Snake Charmer
by overly-distracted
Summary: COMPLETE! - Harry finds out his has a sister; a twin sister. She has some secrets and even she might not know all of them. She catches the eye of a certin Slytherin and romance insues.It's better than it sounds. RR
1. Arrival and a Surprise

Snake Charmer

This will eventually be a Draco/OC fic. If you don't like that, than don't read this story. Also, I don't work _directly_ from the book, my stories are mostly AU. This one is almost _completely_ different from the book.

Ch. 1 - Arrival and a Surprise

Harry Potter and Ron Wesley stepped onto platform 9¾ and waited for Ron's sister Ginny to join them before they headed for The Hogwarts Express.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny!" The three of them turned at their names and saw Hermione Granger pushing her luggage cart quickly toward them.

"Hey Hermione." They greeted her and together they all got on the train and it took off toward Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after waving goodbye to Harry's "guard", Tonks, Moody and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"I heard we're getting two students from another school this year." Hermione said as she Harry, Ron and Ginny found a compartment to themselves. "Both their families moved to London so they'll be coming to Hogwarts. One of them is a sixth year, the same age as the three of us and the other is a fifth year, the same age as you Ginny." She told them excitedly. The four of them talked nonstop until Ron and Hermione had to go to another compartment for their prefect meeting.

"Were they on the train?" Harry asked Hermione as they met back up at the Hogwarts station when the train stopped.

"No, I heard they were coming another way but I don't know which." She told them as they got on a horseless carriage and it took them to the castle. They walked up the stairs with their classmates and into the Great Hall.

"Does something seem different to you guys?" Ron asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"There's a really big fireplace in here." Hermione pointed out the fireplace off to the side near the teacher's table. The students piled in and sat down, waiting for the first years to arrive. The first years filed in behind Professor McGonagall and lined in front of the teacher's table. The sorting began after the sorting hat sang and then, after the sorting was finished, the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, stood to make his announcements.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. First of all, all first years are to know that the Forbidden forest is, well, forbidden, to _all_ Hogwarts students." He looked pointedly at Harry, Ron and Hermione and the three ginned at each other. "Most of you older students may have noticed thelarge fireplace that has been placed in here. The reason for this is because we are receiving two students who are coming to us from another school. They will---" Dumbledore was cut off by a bright green glow coming from the fireplace. It stopped almost as soon as it started and in the once empty space stood two girls.

"_That_ has to be the _worst possible _way to travel." The taller of the two said as she stepped out and brushed the soot out of her shoulder length raven black hair that was clipped up on the left side but fell in her eye the other. She was obviously the oldest and had the same bright green eyes as Harry. The other girl was shorter and younger than the first. She had reddish-brownish hair and deep blue eyes. The older pushed her hair out of her right eye long enough for Harry to see a familiar lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead.

"Welcome to Hogwarts girls." Dumbledore said after seeing Harry's wide shocked eyes. No one else seemed to notice. "I was going to ask how your trip was but I guess you answered that already. "Come. Let's find out what house or house's you will be staying in." He gestured for them to step up to the stool. The older girl nudged the younger forward to go first. The sorting hat was placed on her head and they waited.

"Let's see. . .hmm. . .Gryffindor!" The hat declared. The girl smiled and sat down next to Ginny.

"You next Melina." Professor McGonagall said. Melina took a deep breath and sat on the stool and McGonagall place the sorting hat on her head.

"Hmm, well, what do we have here? Another with courage. A good mind, yes, very good. And very familiar. . .Gryffindor!" The hat finally declared. Melina sighed in relief and sat down next to Harry at the Gryffindor table across from the other girl.

"Now let the feast begin." Dumbledore clapped his hands and the food appeared on all the tables.

"I'm Harry." Harry introduced himself.

"I know. I'm Melina." She nodded across the table. "That's Adara. Be careful starting a conversation with her. As I've recently found out, once she starts, you can't get her to shut up." Harry laughed and introduced her to his friends. The feast lasted, for all except the first years (who the prefects led out), until midnight when Dumbledore cleared their places and sent them all to their houses.

"Except you two." He said pointing at Harry and Melina and gestured for them to follow him up to his office where he sat behind his desk and waited for them to sit as well.

"Show him." Dumbledore instructed Melina. She hesitated but moved her hair behind her right ear. Harry, being on her right side, got a clear view of the scar that he saw every time he looked in the mirror. A surprised frown creased his face. "Harry, did you know have a sister?" Harry's head jerked up and he looked at his headmaster with wide eyes.

"What?" Was all he managed to say.

"Melina is your sister. Your twin actually." The old man stated plainly.

"Umm. . .sorry, but, how?" Harry asked, thoroughly confused.

"She wasn't in your home the night your parents were killed. She was with your grandparents who died of shock when they saw the scar appear on her forehead. You see Harry, even in the Muggle world they believe that twins share a special bond, something magical. And they're right. All twins share a magical bond that connects them. The Muggles just don't understand it the way we wizards do. So, when you were attacked by Voldemort and given that scar, it was, in a way given to her as well." Dumbledor explained, trying to make it as easy to under stand as possible. Melina, Harry noticed, had already heard this and was looking around at the portraits of old headmasters.

"A sister? Where has she been all this time?" Harry asked.

"She was found by one of the wizards in the Order and he decided to take guardianship over her. And she has been living with him ever since." Dumbledore said.

"Who?" Harry asked looking from Dumbledore to Melina. Dumbledore inclined his head before answering.

"Remus Lupin." He stated.

"What? Lupin? How come he never told me?" Harry asked, even more confused than he was before.

"He felt you had enough shock to work out, what with the Dementors, and finding out that Sirius Black was not a murder but in fact your godfather. He was going to bring her hereforth year before the tournament but something came up and he found himself in a wizard hospital in America where Melina was attending school, and then the whole ministry of magic incedent. Needless to say he was back in London near the end of the school year and decided to wait until this year to send her here." He looked up as the door opened and smiled. "Ah, Remus. We were just talking about you."

"That's why I waited this long to come in. Hello Harry." Remus Lupin greeted him as he waved him wand and a chair appeared next to Melina and he sat down.

"Remus is going to be filling in as our DADA teacher again this year." Dumbledore said and Harry nodded.

"So, she's my twin?" Harry asked, trying to roll this over in his mind. Both Dumbledore and Remus nodded. "Is that why the sorting hat said 'familiar'?"

"Yes. And it is because of the bond you two share. The same kindness and courage runs through her blood as yours. Now, it's late. Harry, if you will be so kind as to show Melina the way to the Gryffindor house?" Dumbledore said.

"Sure. Good night professors." Harry said standing up.

"Good night professor Dumbledore. Night uncle Remus." Melina said bending over and giving him a hug.

"I have a sister." Harry said, still trying to wrap his mind around it as they made their way toward the Gryffindor tower. They climbed the stairs and reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?" She said. Harry opened his mouth and then closed it.

"I don't know what the password is this year." He groaned.

"Potter?" Harry and Melina both turned at the sound of McGonagall's voice. "I'm going to have to get use to that." She said about their turning at the same time. "Dumbledore just informed me that you didn't know the password. It's 'Toad Stool'." As soon as she said it, the portrait opened revealing the way to the common room. "I will see you both tomorrow." With that she left.

"Wait 'till Hermione and Ron hear about this. They won't believe it." Harry said as they entered the common room and the door closed behind them. The room was still populated by a few Gryffindor students, including Hermione, Ron, Ginny.

"Hey Harry. What did Dumbledore-Bloody hell!" Ron cut himself off at the sight of Melina. Her hair was still fixed behind her ear. "Harry, she's got a-a-a scar!"

"Yes Ron. You better sit down 'Mione." Harry said. Hermione sat in onechairs next to Ron and Ginny and Harry told them what Dumbledore told him. When he finished no one spoke for a while.

"Wow. You got a sister, like me. That's really cool." Ron said quietly.

"Did you say something about Lupin, Harry? You went through that part rather quickly." Hermione asked.

"Oh, yeah. He's going to be filling the 'defense against the dark arts' teacher spot this year." Harry said.

"Why did September first have to be on a Sunday? Why couldn't it be on a Friday so we didn't have to have classes tomorrow?" Ron complained.

"Come on Melina. I'll show you where you're sleeping. Good night Harry. Ron." Hermione said standing and leading Melina to the dorm.

"Night Harry." Melina said before she went in the room and closed the door.

* * *

Alright. I know this was probably kinda odd, but it's fun to write. Now's the time that you tell me what you think. This is my first Harry Potter fic so please be nice. And remember this _is_ AU. 


	2. Snape and Malfoy, both in One Day

A/N : I forgot to put the disclaimer in chapter 1 so here it is:

Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters. I only own most of the plot and Melina. The other part of the plot comes from my best friend who helped me write this some. Thanks Beka.  
  
Ch. 2 – Snape and Malfoy, both in One Day  
  
Harry walked down to the common room the next morning to find the Gryffindors crowded around Melina looking at her scar.  
  
"Morning Harry." Melina said, knowing he was there without even looking up from the _Hogwarts, A History_ book she held in her hand.  
  
"I didn't know you had a sister Harry." Neville said as Harry joined the table they were gathered around.  
  
"Neither did I until yesterday." Harry said.  
  
"Come on. We're going to miss breakfast if we don't leave now." Ron said, standing to his feet and slinging his bag over his shoulder.  
  
"Yes, and if we miss breakfast we won't be able to eat until lunch, and that's a long way off." Hermione said, mimicking Ron's movements. They all agreed and with that they left for the Great hall. The fireplace that had been there the night before was gone. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and started eating.  
  
"What class do we have first?" Melina asked in between bits of her pancakes.  
  
"You, me and Ron have. . ." Harry paused as he pulled his schedule out of his bag and groaned. "Potions."  
  
"Professor Snape is terrible. He's the head of the Slytherin house so he favors all the Slytherins. He _hates_ Harry." Ron explained to Melina.  
  
"I have Ancient Runes, then we all have 'defense against the dark arts'." Hermione said.  
  
"We'd better get going. We don't want to give Snape an excuse to give us all detention." Ron said and Harry and Melina nodded. They said good-bye to Hermione and some of the others and headed out of the Great hall with Neville, Seamus and Dean and down to the dungeons where Snapes class was.  
  
"I already met Snape. He was at the house when Remus brought me here. He's a very grumpy person isn't he?" Melina whispered to Harry as they sat down.  
  
"Oh yeah." Harry answered just before Snape entered the room. Snape being Snape, pretended he didn't know Melina and attempted to hex the scar off her forehead. Both Her and Harry yelped in pain and put their hand on their foreheads.  
  
"That _hurt_!" They spoke in unison.  
  
"You two will stay after class." Snape said before turning and beginning the lesson. Several Slytherins were sniggering and the other Gryffindors were glaring at Snapes back.  
  
By the end of the class Gryffindor had lost thirty points and Slytherin had gained thirty. Harry and Melina remained in their seats as the rest of their classmates poured out of the room.  
  
"So, how are you enjoying your first day, Ms. Potter?" Snape asked in a sarcastic tone.  
  
"It's been rather painful so far. Did you really have to do that?" Melina asked scowling and rubbing her head.  
  
"I'm not supposed to know you. None of the teachers are suppose to know you. Besides, I believe my students found it humorous." Snape told her.  
  
"You just better hope I don't tell Remus." Melina said in a tone Harry believed sounded very much likes Snapes menacing one.  
  
"What are you going to do; send your dog after me?" The older wizard teased.  
  
"Perhaps. Come Harry. We don't want to miss Remus's lesson. Good day professor." Melina said standing to her feet and dragging Harry out of the room after her.  
  
"You do know you just got him in a really bad mood, right?" Harry asked as they hurried down the halls toward the DADA room.  
  
"From the first moment I met that man, he's done nothing but bait me. He's trying to get me to snap so he can give me detention or something. I'm someone you'd know as a bottler. I bottle up all my anger. I know that's probably not very healthy, but if I ever get really mad, which has only happened once, you'll know." Melina said.  
  
"How will I know?" Harry asked carefully as they stopped in front of the classroom door.  
  
"It'll take months to sort out what hex I used." Melina said before she opened the door and they entered the room.  
  
"How nice of you two to finally join us. Take your seats." Remus said, gesturing to two empty seats.

* * *

All the fifth years loved that Remus was back. Well, all except the Slytherins of course. The only ones who really knew he was Melina's guardian were Harry, Hermione and the Weasley's. It was best if it was kept that way as long as possible, just so none of the students thought he was favoring her. After they had all their classes, Harry decided to introduce Melina to Hagrid, since 'care of magical creatures' wasn't until Thursday.  
  
"Do you guys want to come?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who agreed ecstatically.  
  
"Ms. Potter?" A voice called behind them before they reached the main doors.  
  
"Yes professor Lupin?" Melina said upon turning and seeing Remus. There were other students in the hall so she couldn't exactly call him by his first name.  
  
"I'm wondering if I might have a word." Remus said.  
  
"You guys go ahead. I'll see you later at the feast." She told her brother and friends. They nodded and said good-bye and Melina turned back to her surrogate father. "May I help you?" She asked sweetly.  
  
"Sorry to take you away from your brother and new friends but I'd like to talk to you." Remus said as he gestured for her to walk with him to his office.  
  
"You are talking to me." She said as she sat down across from him at his desk. Before Remus could respond, Snape walked in without knocking, carrying a large goblet.  
  
"Here is your potion Lupin." He said setting it on the desk. Melina leaned forward and smelled it. She leaned back with her nose scrunched up.  
  
"I hate the smell of that stuff." She said rubbing her nose, as if trying to rub the smell out.  
  
"Your not the one who has to drink it." Remus said to her before returning his attention back to Snape. "I forgot to tell you, you didn't need to make it."  
  
"What, were you planning to change and reek havoc on the students? Again?" Snape asked, smirking menacingly.  
  
"Actually, Melina has already made it for me." Remus said gesturing to the fifteen-yr-old in front of him.  
  
"What?" Snape asked, his smirk melting into a frown.  
  
"Well, I do _live_ with the man professor. It's only natural I would know how to make it. Or did you forget?" Melina asked in an innocent tone. Snape glared at her for a moment before turning on his heel and walking out of the room. "You wanted to talk to me?"  
  
"You're baiting him." Remus said.  
  
"He baits me, so it's only fair that I do it back." She told him.  
  
"Do you know how I became your guardian?" Remus asked ignoring her comment as he leaned forward in his seat.  
  
"No. I never asked so you never told me. How?" Melina asked.  
  
"I found you. While Dumbledore was making sure Harry was safe I was making sure _you_ were safe. Harry _was_ in greater need than you but I knew that the bond you two have would do something. And sure enough, I found you in your mothers parents home with that scar. I knew that even though I was, and still am, a werewolf, I could take care of you. I left you with someone once every month until you were old enough to go to school and take care of yourself." Lupin explained. "I think you're more like you godfather than you know. Even though you only met him a few times; it only takes once for Sirius to rub off on someone. Now we better hurry or we'll miss the feast." He stood and pulled her to her feet and together they headed to the Great hall. It seemed to Melina, as Remus walked her to the Gryffindor table, that almost everyone was looking at her.  
  
"Ignore the stares. They'll stop soon enough." Remus told her, also noticing the looks. He bent and kissed her forehead in one unconscious movement. Melina grinned and shook her head and sat down next to Fred, seeing as Harry, Ron and Hermione hadn't gotten back from Hagrids yet.  
  
"What are you? The 'defense against the dark arts' teachers pet?" Melina turned to see three Slytherins standing behind her.  
  
"Who's asking?" She said turning all the way around in her seat to face him. "Wait don't tell me. Platinum blond hair. Tall. Slytherin. You must be a Malfoy." She concluded and he smirked, his arms crossing in front of him.  
  
"So you've heard of us?" Draco said, looking at his two "friends", Crabbe and Goyle. Melina looked him up and down before answering.  
  
"Nothing good." She said and he frowned.  
  
"How dare you speak to me like that." Draco said, his arms dropping to his sides. Melina rose to her feet and stood in front of him. She was a good three and a half inches shorter than him but her attitude was much different.  
  
"I will speak to you in whatever manner I see fit." She glared up at him. Remus started to stand from his seat at the teacher's table but Dumbledore stopped him.  
  
"If their wands are drawn we will stop them." The headmaster told him as three more students approached them.  
  
"Leave her alone Malfoy." Draco looked to the side to see Harry, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"I was wondering when you were going to show up to protect your new girlfriend, Potter." Draco sneered. Melina laughed sarcastically.  
  
"I'm not his girlfriend. I happen to be his sister." Draco's head whipped back to her and he scowled even more.  
  
"What?" He asked, sounding almost as surprised as Harry did when Dumbledore told him. Melina moved her hair back and Draco looked from Her to Harry and back to her. He finally saw it. The hair, the eyes and, of course, the scar. "Oh. Well, I guess you're stuck with Granger then Potter." He said, smirk back in place.  
  
"Even if Hermione _was_ my girlfriend, I wouldn't consider it being _stuck_. Now go away." Harry said as he moved to sit down. Melina glared at Draco a moment longer before she, too, sat and Hermione and Ron went around the table and sat on the other side. Draco made an annoyed sound and left with Crabbe and Goyle to the Slytherin table.  
  
"Thanks Harry." Hermione said after the three Slytherins had left.  
  
"Any time Hermione." Harry said as Dumbledore clapped his hands and the food appeared.

* * *

OK. There you have it. Chapter 2. I know it's not very long but let me know how you like it so far. R/R 


	3. Malfoy, A Broom and a Nice Chat with Sna...

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Here's the next chapter.

**Ch. 3 - Malfoy, a Broom, and a Nice Chat With Snape**

The week went by quickly with Hagrid's 'care of magical creatures' class the only excitement. Hagrid was so happy to finally meet Melina he let the class out a whole half hour early. Harry told her about Buckbeak and what Draco had done.

"You should have _heard_ him whining and groaning." Ron said. "It was _hilarious_!"

"I'll bet. But it probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't insulted poor Buckbeak. What an _idiot_." Melina commented.

"Well, I think you four should be headin' back up to the castle. I'll see yeh at the feast." Hagrid said, shooing them out of his cabin. They slowly walked up to the castle, wrapping their robes tighter around themselves as it was getting colder by the second. They met up with Neville, Seamus and Dean in they entrance hall and they all headed toward Gryffindor tower. Well, they tried, but a tall, dark haired figure blocked their path.

"What are you Gryffindors up to?" They all stopped in their track at the sight of professor Snape. Melina pushed Neville out of the way and stood in front of her friends.

"We're on our way back to our common room. Now _please_ move." She said irritably.

"Yes, of course. On your way." Snape stepped to the side and they all passed him, Harry with a grin and raised eyebrows, the others with wide eyes.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked as they headed up the changing staircases.

"Do what?" Melina asked innocently as they reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Password?"

"Toad Stool." Harry answered.

"I most certainly is _not_." The fat lady answered. They all gapped at her in shock.

"What do you mean it's not?" Hermione asked angrily.

"They changed the password? Oh no." Neville moaned.

"Will you _please_ let us in?" Melina asked.

"Of course. Come right in." The portrait swung open and she marched through and was slowly followed by the others.

"_That!_ How did you do _that_? _No one_ can get through portals without a password! And that thing with _Snape_!" Hermione continued her earlier question when they were all inside.

"_Relax_ Hermione. I've _always_ been able to do that sort of thing." Melina told them as they all sat down.

"We get to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow." Ron said after a moment of silence.

"Is that the wizarding town near here?" Melina asked.

"Yeah. It's great. It's got Honeydukes sweets, and the Three Broom Sticks, they serve the best butter beer." Ron said and he kept rattling things off until Hermione covered his mouth with her hand.

"It's nearly time for the feast." She reminded him. He quieted almost immediately. They Gryffindors poured back out of the tower and headed down to the feast.

Melina and Hermione came out of the dorm the next morning to find Harry and Ron waiting for them in the common room.

"Everyone else has already gone ahead. We thought we should wait for you." Ron said as he and Harry stood up from their chairs. "I wanted to go ahead and go but Harry thought we should wait."

"Isn't he sweet?" Hermione asked Melina who merely smiled.

"Shall we go?" Harry said. They headed out of the portal and out of the castle. Hogsmeade was swarming with Hogwarts students as it was the first Hogsmeade visit of the school year. The four sat down at Madam Puddifoot's café and got some hot coco.

"Are you now the forth musketeer?" They turned to see Draco and some other Slytherins standing next to them.

"What do you want Mr. Malfoy?" Melina asked before Harry could say anything.

"Oh nothing. I just get pleasure out of buggin' people like you." Draco answered.

"Just remember, you get what you give." Melina said and the four of them, having finished their drinks, got up and left.

"I think Draco Malfoy's met his match." Ron said smiling at Melina as they walked into Honeydukes.

"I think he has." Harry agreed. The bought their sweets and went over to the Three Broom Sticks and almost walked back out again.

"No no no no." Melina said pushing them back in. "We can't let Draco Malfoy think he can run us out of Hogsmeade just by being here. He'll think he's won." She walked ahead of them and sat down and they followed her. They ordered four butter beers and drank in silence and watched the Slytherins carefully.

"I think they're waiting for us to leave first." Hermione said after discreetly looking over to the other table at the other end of the room.

"You're probably right. Let's get something to eat shall we?" Melina said. They ordered some lunch and finally the Slytherins left. The four Gryffindors finished eating and decided to head back to the school. On the way back, Ron took it upon himself to tell Melina about all the times Harry faced Voldemort.

"It's only been three times Ron. Not a thousand. And one I can't even remember." Harry reminded his best friend.

"Well, not everyone faces You-Know-Who more than once and lives." Ron said.

"He's got a point Harry. Probably the only other person who can face Voldemort and live is Dumbledore. Isn't he the only one Voldemort is scared of?" Melina asked ignoring Ron's whimpering at the name being mentioned.

"The one and only. That's why Harry's safe here." Hermione said as they entered the castle.

"Has anyone seen Crookshanks?" Hermione asked later when they were settled in the common room.

"Who's Crookshanks?" Melina asked looking up from her potions essay.

"My cat." Hermione said as she looked behind a corner chair.

"You lost your cat?" Melina asked, teasing slightly.

"I didn't _lose_ him, he's just---" Hermione stopped when she realized Melina was teasing her. "Well, where's _your_ animal?" She teased back.

"In the 'defense against the dark arts' room." Melina said innocently. Hermione, being the smart one she is, knew exactly what she was talking about and started laughing. Harry and Ron were a bit slower but got it just the same.

"Best not let your uncle hear you say that." Ron said.

"Why not? He'd think it was funny." Melina said grinning.

"_Do_ you have a pet?" Hermione asked after they had gotten their laughs out.

"No. I had an owl but it was old so it died soon after I got it. I use Remus's." Melina told her.

"I've haven't seen you use it." Harry said as he joined the search for Crookshanks.

"Well, you wouldn't, would you? The only person I send letters to when I'm away is working here at the school." She explained. Harry and Hermione search a bit longer while Melina finished her potions essay and Ron worked on his charms essay.

"I'm sure he'll turn up Hermione." Harry said as they left Gryffindor tower and headed to the feast.

"I know. He's just starting to act like he did in third year; you know, when he kept disappearing and then showing back up at least two days later? I'm not worried." Hermione said as they entered the Great hall and sat down at they're table. The sound of dozens of flapping wings sounded above the student's heads as owls arrived with the mail.

"In coming. Remus's owl has a tendency to crash." Melina said pointing to a very large grey owl heading toward them with an oddly shaped package. Sure enough, the owl swooped to low to soon and crashed into the table, knocking over several, thankfully, empty goblets as it slid to a stop in front of the four of them. "That's mine." She told Seamus as he picked up the package that had landed in front to him. "Sorry."

"Reminds me of my mum and dads owl Errol." Ron said as the owl stood up and shook her head. The Slytherins were laughing wildly at the clumsy bird.

"He needs to teach you how to land, doesn't he Malon?" Melina asked the bird who merely cocked her head before taking off to head back to the owlry. But not before nearly knocking herself out by running into a wall. By this time all the students were laughing, even Melina.

"Let's see what you got." Harry said. He and Ron helped rip the brown paper off as Hermione picked up the letter that had come with it.

"Whoa! She got one too Harry!" Ron said when they had finished opening it and found a broom. A Firebolt that is.

"You've got one?" Melina asked as the Slytherins stopped laughing when they saw the broom. Harry nodded.

"Who's it from Hermione?" He asked seeing her and Ron grinning across from them.

"Look for yourselves." She said handing them the letter. Harry read the letter and grinned as well.

"It's from our godfather." Melina said as she picked Firebolt up off the table and set it on her and Harry's laps.

"You know who Snuffles is?" Harry asked quietly as they food appeared on the table.

"He told me that's what he had you guys calling him." Melina replied and the four of them tried not to laugh as they started eating. The Great hall was becoming increasingly noisy and was louder than usual. "I'll see you guys back in the common room. Would you mind taking this back there for me, Harry?" She asked standing to her feet standing the Firebolt up as well. Harry nodded and she left the hall. Her head was pounding from the noise level so she tried to think of somewhere quiet to go. Gryffindor tower wouldn't stay quiet for long 'cause the students would go there from the feast talking loudly. The only place she could think of that was remotely quiet enough to ease her pounding head was the potions classroom, so she headed down to the dungeons and into the room. She knew Snape wouldn't be there because he was at the feast so she sat down in her usual seat. Crossing her arms on the desk, she lay her head down to see if it would stop the pounding. A scratching sound made her jerk her head back up and look around.

"Is there a reason _why_ you are in my class room, Ms. Potter?" Melina jumped and whipped her had around at the sound of Snape's voice.

"Professor. You startled me." Snape smirked. "A _little_." She amended.

"Why are you here, Ms. Potter?" Snape asked, walking up to the front of the room and standing in front of her.

"The Hall was to loud, it was giving me a headache." She told him rubbing her temple. "I knew Gryffindor tower wouldn't stay quiet for long and this _has_ to be the quietest room in the castle." Snape looked at her before pulling a chair over and sitting in front of her.

"It is. Why do you think I selected this one over the one the headmaster offered me?" He asked.

"I thought you just liked dark, dank places." She told him in an innocent sounding voice. He raised his eyebrows at her and she just shrugged, smiling sweetly. They sat there for a moment with him just looking at her before he spoke again.

"You looked spooked when I came in here and it wasn't because of me. What's wrong?" He asked. Melina frowned at his almost concerned tone.

"I wasn't _spooked_." She defended herself. "I was only _startled_. I heard a noise."

"What kind of noise?" Snape asked, surprising himself that he even _remotely_ cared.

"It was. . .scratching, I think."

"Like an animal?" Snape suggested.

"Perhaps." Melina said slowly. "It _could_ have been an animal, yes."

"I have heard it as well. It's very annoying when one is trying to grade homework at night---"

"How did I do?" Melina interrupted, her eyes lighting up.

"You'll find out." Snape answered, annoyed at being interrupted. Melina's face fell into a pout. "I suppose," He didn't know _why_ he was talking to her at _all_, let alone telling her how she did in his class. "I could tell you that you are one of the only two receiving top marks in the class."

"Really?" Her eyes lit back up. "Who's the other one?" Snape sighed.

"Ms. Granger." He said. _Why_ am I _telling_ her this? he asked himself. "I would _prefer_ if you didn't tell her.

"I won't." She said excitedly.

"Speaking of you being one of the smartest in the class, I'm going to need you to tutor someone for me." The glint in his eyes and the smirk that he was now wearing told her everything.

"No. No. Absolutely _not_. I _will_ not. I can't. He won't listen to me. He's _insufferable_." She nearly shrieked. Snape gave her a 'your-doing-it-whether-you-like-it-or-out' look. Though it looked slightly softer than usual. "Alright, fine. But _you're_ going to have to convince him to do it. He _won't_ listen to me."

"Don't worry. Mr. Malfoy will _not_ refuse an order from the head of his house. He _probably_ won't want you to tell anyone, so if anyone asks, I'm assigning partners and you get the pleasure of being his. Now, how is your headache?" He asked, trying not to sound concerned.

"_Surprisingly_, it's a _little_ better. By the way, what are _you_ doing out of the Hall during a feast?" She asked not really expecting him to answer.

"It seems you and I both share a common interest in quiet." He said, surprising both her _and himself_ at the fact that he answered. "You may stay a little while longer until your headache leaves completely. Until then, I would appreciate it if you would stay as quiet as possible."

"I will. Thank you professor." Snape nodded slightly before getting up and moving to his desk. Melina laid her head back down on her arms and was soon slipping from consciousness into her dreams.

Snape looked up after a long while of silence and realized the green-eyed girl was asleep. He sat there for a moment, not knowing if he should wake her right then and send her to her house or finish grading and wake her later. He chose the latter and continued his work.

"Severus have you-ah, I guess you have." Snape looked up to see Remus in the doorway of his classroom. "Harry came to me saying that she wasn't in Gryffindor tower and they hadn't seen her since she left the feast early. I just wanted to know if you'd seen her at all."

"Obviously I have. It seems Ms. Potter and I have something in common." Snape said setting his quill down.

"Besides being good at potions?" Remus asked as he walked up to the front of the room.

"We both enjoy peace and quiet." Snape answered.

"Ah, yes. She's always tried to find the quietest places she could. It's probably because I'm not the quietest person to live with." Remus said moving over to Melina. "Would you like me to wake her up and send her to her house?"

"Could you? I'm a little busy. I need to get these done by Monday." Snape said trying his best to sound annoyed. Remus smirked and raised his eyebrows at the less than annoyed tone as he leaned over Melina.

"Lina." He shook her gently trying to rouse her. Melina's head lifted off her arms and she glared up at Remus.

"Huh?" She asked.

"You need to go to your house." He told her. She nodded and got to her feet and stretched.

"See ya professor." She said to Snape with a yawn as she exited the room.

"Thanks for keeping her company Severus." Remus said before he followed Melina out. He heard Snape mumble something that sounded very much like "She kept me company" but he couldn't be sure.

Melina yawned as she headed up the stairs, carefully avoiding the disappearing one on her way. She wasn't sure what the password was yet so she just asked the fat lady to please let her in and she walked into the now empty common room. She didn't think she could make it to the dorm and into her bed, so she just collapsed into the closest chair and fell back to sleep.

There you have it. I think I'm going to edit the first two chapters so if you've already read them(which you obviously have) you might want to read them again.


	4. Running into and Bonding With Draco

**Ch. 4 - Running into and Bonding With Draco**

Melina yawned and opened her eyes. She shrieked at the sight of two blue eyes staring into her green ones.

"Adara! You're going to give me a heart attack! Don't do that!" She said shoving the fifth year away from her. The younger girl giggled as she sat down on the couch next to Ginny. Melina stretched her arms over her head and stood up, yawning again.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." She turned at Harry's voice and saw him coming down the stairs from his dorm. "Where were you last night?"

"I fell asleep in one of the classrooms and Remus found me." She told him. "I better go change. I'll be right back." She walked into her dorm and to her bed.

"Oh, you're awake. Sleep well?" Hermione asked looking up from her bed and seeing Melina.

"Yeah. All nice and cozy in that little chair." Melina told her as she rifled through her trunk and pulled out a pair of jeans and a long sleeved dark green shirt. She went to the bathroom and changed and brushed the little knots out of her hair that had formed over night. She went back into the dorm and closed up her trunk and the two girls went back out to the common room.

"Are we going to Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron, who had just entered the room a moment before them.

"Sure." Harry said and Ron agreed.

"You guys go ahead. I have to go talk to one of the professors. I'll meet you at Honeydukes." Melina said. She exited the tower before they could ask which professor she needed to talk to. She groaned as she walked down the stairs at the thought of tutoring Draco. She rounded a corner and

SMACK!

She landed on the floor with an "uuff!", hearing whomever she ran into do the same. She tried to get up but found the wind had been knocked out of her and she was finding it difficult to breathe. She felt someone behind her helping her to her feet. Finally, now that she was on her feet, she was able to take a few breaths.

"They really ought to make it easier to see people around these corners so you don't smack into other people." Melina turned to see Draco standing there. The movement was obviously to fast and she started to fall from dizziness.

"Whoa. Come on. Come with me. We better go see Pomfrey and have her give you something for that dizziness." He took her by the arm and walked her toward the hospital wing.

"I'm fine Malfoy. Really. I'm just a little dizzy, that's all." She said as she swayed dangerously toward a wall and would have hit it had Draco not pulled her away from it.

"Sure you are. Madam Pomfrey!" He called into the nearly empty ward as they entered it.

"Mr. Malfoy. And Ms. Potter. What can I do for the two of you?" Madam Pomfrey asked when she came out of her office and saw the two of them.

"We ran into each other." Draco said.

"Literally." Melina said rubbing her forehead with her free hand, seeing Draco still held onto her other arm.

"You may release her Mr. Malfoy. Unless, of course, you believe she may fall over." Pomfrey said.

"You didn't see her swaying on the way here. So I think it's best if I keep a hold of her." He threw Melina a trademark Malfoy smirk and she glared at him.

"Honestly Madam Pomfrey, I'm fine. I got the wind knock out of me and I'm a little dizzy, but I'm fine." She assured the midi-witch.

"Well, take this anyway. It'll take care of the dizziness and clear you head." Pomfrey said handing her a glass of something that smelled awful. "Just take it and get it over with." Melina made a sour face before drinking it in one gulp.

"Bleh!" She said shuddering. "I hate knowing what's in potions. It makes them even worse to take." She said handing the glass back to Pomfrey, who raised her eyebrows.

"It may take a little while to take effect. Are you going to Hogsmeade?" Melina nodded. "Perhaps it would be best if Mr. Malfoy accompanied you for a while." Pomfrey suggested.

"I suppose I could bother her for a little while longer." Draco teased, his hand still holding onto her arm, keeping her standing.

"Good. Off you go." Pomfrey shooed them out.

"I just came from Snape's. He says I need to be civil to you since we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. Hope you dear brother doesn't mind." The last part was pure sarcasm.

"Harry can't tell me what to do or who I can or cannot tutor." He half-glared, half-smirked as he let go of her arm seeing if she could walk straight yet. She swayed slightly but stayed standing.

"Don't you dare tell anyone you're tutoring me in potions." He sneered at her.

"I thought you were suppose to be civil to me." She reminded him as the left the castle and headed to Hogsmeade. They walked in silence for a while until curiosity won over Melina. "So, Mr. Malfoy. What are you having trouble with in potions?" She asked as they walked.

"According to Snape, everything." Draco answered.

"Well, let's see. We could start small, do appearance changing potions and what not before we try the really hard ones." She said thoughtfully.

"What kind of appearance changing potions?" He asked as they enter the wizarding town.

"Oh, serums that'll change your hair color or your eye color. You can even make potions that'll change your skin. You can change the color of it or the texture; make it furry or even turn it into snake skin." She said ecstatically as the approached Madam Puddifoot's café and sat down at an outside table.

"You're scarier than your brother." He said after staring at her for a moment. She laughed as he ordered them some coco.

Harry stopped walking and turned at the sound of Melina's laugh and his eyes widened when he saw whom she was sitting with.

"Is that my sister with Malfoy?" He asked his two best friends.

"And she laughing." Ron said.

"Well. . .we might as well be polite and go say hello to her." Hermione said pushing the two boys in the direction of the other two sixth years.

"Potter." Draco said coldly to Harry as the three walked up behind Melina. She turned and ginned.

"Harry. Ron. Hermione." She greeted each of them.

"Weasel. Mudblood." Draco said. Melina spun back around and glared so hard Harry was sure Snape would crack if she looked at him that way. "Sorry. Weasley. Granger." He corrected himself sulkily.

"Can I talk to you?" Harry asked Melina while he tried not to laugh at Draco's sulking.

"Sure. I'll be right back Draco." She got up and followed her brother away from the table, Ron and Hermione following.

"Since when are you such good friends with Malfoy?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not. Snape's assigning partners and stuck me with him. He told Draco to try and be civil toward me 'cause he probably knows I won't hesitate to kill the prat if he annoys me." Melina assured him.

"You promise?" Ron asked in a hopeful voice.

"You three'll be the first to know. Now if you don't mind I need to sit down. Draco and I smacked into each other earlier and Madam Pomfrey gave me some nasty potion. You don't even want to know what was in it." She said making a face.

"Alright. We'll see you later then. Don't be afraid to hex him." Harry said and Melina grinned. She turned around and walked back to the table. Draco was frowning as she sat down across from him.

"I didn't tell them if that's what you're so grumpy about." She told him.

"How did you do that?" He asked, looking up from his drink.

"Do what?" She asked, getting a strange feeling of deja vue. Oh yes. Hermione asked me the same thing the other day. She thought to herself.

"Make me apologize and correct myself." He asked.

"Remus says I'm sort of an Enchantress. I can make anyone do anything I want; even when I'm not aware of it. When I was little Remus told me I had to say 'please' if I wanted something, so I did and every time I said it I got what I wanted. I didn't realize this until I was about six and Remus realized it then too. He told me not to say it anymore and to only say 'may I have' instead." She explained. "Please is my own personal magic word."

"So, Harry's a Parsalmouth and you're an Enchantress. Wonderful." He said sarcastically.

"The only thing I can control so far is the 'please'. I've used it on Snape once already and I'll undoubtedly use it on him again." She said smirking. "Remus says there's loads of things an Enchantress can do but I only know of, now, two others so far. I guess one of them is a sort of mind control, like what just happened with you. I've never done that before. The other is a natural wand-less magic. I have to concentrate hard if I want to do that. It's not as easy as Dumbledore makes it out to be. Why am I telling you all this?" She asked shaking her head.

"How would I know? You're the Enchantress." Draco said before taking a sip of his now cooling coco.

"When do you want to start the lessons?" She asked, changing the subject.

"The what?" He asked, not following her train of thought.

"The potion lessons. When should we start them?"

"Tonight? 7o'clock after the feast?" He suggested.

"Perfect. We can meet in one of the empty classrooms near the dungeons. That way we won't have to go far for supplies. What should we do first?" Melina asked, finishing of her drink and leaning forward slightly.

"You said we could start with appearance changing potions?" She nodded. "How 'bout hair color? I'll make yours and you can make mine."

"Is that suppose to be some sort of lame challenge? Whatever color I make you'll take?" She questioned.

"And whatever color I make you have to take. Just promise you won't make it girly. Like hot pike or something." He said.

"As long as it's not girly or hot pink for me it won't be girly or hot pink for you." Was as close as "promise" she got. "And it has to be at least a two day potion. Now," She said standing to her feet. "I'm going to Honeydukes. Care to join me?" She could tell he was fighting not to smile as he sighed and nodded.

"Did we just bond?" He asked as they walked down the street.

"Why yes, Mr. Malfoy, I believe we did."

* * *

Adara is just a tiny character. She has no real purpose except to annoy Melina. In case any of you were wondering. 


	5. Hair, Eyes, and Teasing from Snape

A/N : Snape is a _little_ OOC in this story in case you couldn't tell already.

* * *

Ch. 5 - Hair, Eyes, and Teasing from Snape

Melina walked into the common room behind her brother and friends after a surprisingly nice day at Hogsmeade with Draco and a delicious feast.

"I say we go see Hagrid before it gets darker." Ron suggested.

"Good idea Ron." Harry said. He, Ron and Hermione grabbed there coats and went back toward the portal, but Melina, instead of following them, sat down and started rifling through her bag. Harry realized she was following them and frowned.

"Aren't you coming Melina?" He asked, turning back to her.

"No, I can't." She answered, looking up at him briefly before looking back down and shoving another book into her bag.

"Why not?" Harry asked, still frowning slightly.

"I have to go do a project." She said, flipping through the pages of another book before shoving it into her bag as well. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be late." She got up and slid pass Ron and Hermione, who had stopped near the door, and headed down the stairs toward the dungeons. She checked her bag as she walked to make sure she didn't forget anything. She probably should have learned her lesson earlier to watch where she was going, 'cause bumped into someone else.

"Oh! Sorry professor. I didn't see you." She apologized when she realized she ran into a teacher.

"Seeing that you were looking down, I don't see how you could have seen me." It was Snape and he didn't look particularly happy about being run into.

"Yes, I know. Again, I apologize. It's just I'm going down to meet Draco down by the dungeons to start his lessons and I'm going to be late." She explained.

"I see. Well, I'm going to want a progress report by the end of the next week, of course." He told her.

"You want me to tutor him and write you a progress report?" She sighed.

"Yes. Now, run along. You don't want to be late." He told her. She moved without a word and walked quickly around him, not knowing about the amusement that danced briefly across his face.

Melina walked quickly down to the dungeons and into the classroom and dumped her books out of her bag onto the table. Draco hadn't gotten there yet so she took her bag and went to the potions room and got the supplies they were going to need. She re-entered the room and found Draco lounging in one of the chairs; his feet kicked up on the table and his arms behind his head.

"You know you could help me." She commented, trying not to drop anything.

"I could." He answered not moving. She glared at him and he felt himself crack. "Ok, ok." He moved over to her and took a few things from her.

"Alright. These vials," she said indicating to a group of vials after they sat down. "are for the color. The rest of this stuff are the other ingredients. You know you have to follow the directions very carefully in potions in order for it to come out right? You absolutely _must_ put things in, in the order they are given in the book." Draco nodded. "When all the ingredients are put in, _in the correct order_, you can choose what color you want to use for me." The smirk he gave her made her a little worried. "Let's get started."

She watched him carefully while she made her own potion, making sure he was putting everything in correctly like she told him.

"Don't worry." He said as he turned the vials toward him so only he could read the labels. "I'm not going to choose a bad color." He selected two, looking in the book at the same time to read the directions. Melina turned the vials to her and grabbed two as well, pouring a little of one in, then a little of the other and then little more of the first one. Draco's caldron hissed and a wisp of grey steam floated up out of it and then the same happened to Melina's.

"I guess that means I did it right." He said.

"Yes, you did. Switch caldrons." She said. He pushed his over to her and pulled hers over to him. Melina took her ladle and poured some of the potion into a goblet and Draco did the same.

"Bottoms up." He said. They raised their glasses to each other and then gulped down the potions. "Ug! Is it supposed to taste this bad?" He asked after he forced it down and dropped the goblet on the table.

"Most potions taste disgusting." Melina said. She looked up at him and her disgusted look turned into a grin. She picked up a mirror and handed it to him without a word. His eyes widened when he saw his hair.

"Green and silver?" He stared at his reflection. Melina had turned his hair a medium green with a few silver streaks.

"Yeah. Slytherin colors." She told him.

"It's brilliant. Here look at yours." He handed her the mirror and watched her expression change. "Gryffindor colors. What do you think?"

"Also brilliant." Her hair was no longer raven black, but was now medium red with yellowish-gold highlights. "I think that was a bit to easy for you. We'll try something harder next time." She told him, fingering one of the highlights. "I can't wait to see the look on Harry's face when he sees this."

"I can't wait to see the look on his face." Draco said. "Can we try another on before it gets any later?"

"What kind?"

"Eye color?"

"Alright. Let me go get some more ingredients. I'll be right back." She turned and went back to the potions room and grabbed a few more things and rejoined Draco.

Somehow, halfway through making her own potion, Melina managed to fall asleep while Draco made his potion.

"Melina." He shook her awake.

"Draco. Sorry. I really didn't mean to fall asleep." She apologized as she brought her head up off the table.

"It's alright you weren't down for that long. Just long enough for me to finish this. Here. Try it." He said handing her a goblet of grayish looking liquid. She recognized the smell of it as the eye-changing potion.

"Oh, but I didn't watch you to make sure you did it right. It might kill me." She said, trying not to sound apprehensive.

"What? Don't you trust me?" He asked smirking. Melina gave him a 'do-you-really-want-me-to-answer-that?' look. "Oh, come on." She rolled her eyes but put the goblet to her lips and downed the contents. As was expected from that sort of potion, her eyes burned. She shut them tightly and rubbed them waiting for the burning to subside. She opened her eyes a moment later and blinked a few times to clear her vision. Draco grinned as she looked up at him and he handed her the mirror.

"Draco!" She shrieked when she saw what color he had turned her eyes.

"What? I said I wouldn't turn your hair hot pink. I never said anything about your eyes." He defended himself. Her eyes were indeed not longer green but a very bright hot pink.

"Draco," She said putting the mirror down and looking back at him. "the color will completely clash with my hair." She half-joked causing him to laugh for the first time since she met him. "Come on, Slytherin, you can help me put this stuff away." She told him, standing to her feet and gathering a few things into her arms. Draco shook his head but got up and helped clear the table. They finished cleaning up and he helped her pack her books back into her bag and, surprisingly, offered to walk her back to the Gryffindor tower.

"Well," Melina said as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "that was fun. I'm just hoping my eyes won't stay like this for to long."

"Nah. I only put enough in for it to last twenty-four hours. By this time tomorrow your eyes will be back to normal. I think your hair might stay like that slightly longer than two days though." Draco told.

"I think yours'll last a bit longer than two days as well. Well, 'night Mr. Malfoy." She said turning and starting up the stairs.

"Night Ms. Potter." He called after her.

* * *

Harry walked down the stairs the next morning and found his sister, again, asleep in the chair. At least, he thought it was his sister. It looked like her face but hair looked really wild.

"She was there when we got up." Hermione said from her place at the table next to Ron, who was trying franticly to finish his charms homework. "I was wondering why she didn't come in again last night. We should probably wake her up. It's almost time for breakfast and I want to know why her hair is practically the same color as our ties." Harry nodded and walked over to his sister and shook her gently.

"Melina. Wake up. It's almost time for breakfast." He said. Melina moaned and opened her eyes. Harry jumped back in shock at the sight of her bright pink orbs staring back at him.

"Sorry. I should have warned you before I opened my eyes that you were in for a bit of a shock." Melina said stretching her arms over her head.

"That would have been nice." Harry said sarcastically.

"I'm going to go change and then we can go. Or you guys can go ahead and I'll meet you there. That's probably best. I might be a while." She said standing up.

"Alright. We'll see you in the Hall. We'll be expecting a full explanation for your. . .colorful appearance." Harry said and he, Hermione and Ron gathered their things and left the tower. Melina went up to her dorm and changed into her robes. She went into the bathroom and brushed the slight potion taste out of her mouth and tried to figure out what to do with her newly colored hair. She pulled as much of it back as she could, which wasn't that much because it was short, leaving it so two gold highlights hung down on both sides of her face. She shook her head at her eyes before she went back out to the common room and refilled her bag with the rest of her class books and then left the tower.

She kept a straight face as she walked to the Hall receiving odd stares from Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and ignored the snickers from the Slytherins she passed in the halls. Most of the students were already in the Hall when she entered and they all gawked at her. She pretended she didn't notice as she walked over to the Gryffindor table and down next to Hermione across from Harry and Ron.

"So, what's with your hair?" Harry asked. "And eyes?"

"As for the hair, look for yourself." Melina said nodding to her left at the Hall's doorway and the three others turned and saw Draco entering the room, acting the same way Melina did way she came in. He sat down at his table and winked at her.

Potions was their first class and Snape was, as Melina told Harry, assigning partners. Since she already knew she was going to be paired with Draco, she sat down next to him before class had started. Gryffindor, of course, lost points. It was usual for that to happen in potions class. But when Melina answered a question, the last thing the class expected to hear was:

"Correct Ms. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor." Everyone in the room, with the exception of Snape and Melina, gasped. Ron and Harry's mouths were hanging open and Draco's eyes were wide at the words he just heard.

"I'm sorry professor. You mean_from_ Gryffindorof course." Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin, said, trying to change his mind.

"I meant what I said. And that's five points from Slytherin for speaking out of turn." Snape snapped at her. Another collective gasp and several Gryffindors nearly fell out of their chairs.

"Ms. Potter?" Snape said after he had dismissed the class. "I must say, pink is most definitely you color." He was teasing her.(A/N likeI said, OOC)Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house, was teasing her.

"Hahaha. Very funny." She said sarcastically before she turned and joined Draco who was waiting for her outside the door, and they headed toward DADA.

"You're not going to kill me for turning your eyes pink, are you?" Draco asked as they walked down the hall.

"Why would I do that when _professor **Snape**_ is having such a good time _teasing_ me?" She asked in a serious voice, which he took as a mostly 'no'.

"Ms. Potter. Mr. Malfoy. How nice of you to join us." Remus said without looking up as they entered the classroom.

"Sorry professor. Professor Snape delayed us." Melina told him. He finally looked up was able to take in their appearances better than he had been able to in the Great hall.

"Ten points to each to you for creative display of your house's colors. Though I must say Melina, the pink really clashes with the red." Remus told her. Several of the girls giggle in agreement and Melina glared at her "father".

"Yes professor. Draco and I already had that discussion after he turned them that color." She said as she sat down and Draco followed and sat next to her.

"On purpose?" Remus asked the now green and silver haired boy.

"Yes sir. She said not to turn her hair hot pink, she didn't say anything about her eyes."

* * *

Sorry for the wait. My computer has decided it doesn't want me to update _any_ of my stories, so I have to do it at school or my brothers' house.

Anyway, let me know what you think.


	6. A Kiss, A Confession, and A Costume

Ch. 6 - A Kiss, A Confession, and A Costume

"You're very annoying, you know that?" Melina asked as she walked out of 'history of magic' with Draco on the way to lunch.

"Of course. It's what I live for." He told her.

"Do you want to meet again tonight?" She asked, glaring playfully at him.

"Wh-wh-what?" He stuttered.

"You know. For tutoring. Potions." She told him frowning slightly.

"Oh. Oh. Right. Potions. Yeah, sure."

"What did you think I meant?"

"I-uh-um." Melina raised her eyebrows at the red that crept up his face. "I got to go." He turned and walked quickly away without another word.

"Same time then." Melina called after him. Draco stopped and walked back to her and leaned down and kissed her softly on her lips.

"Later." He said turning back around and walking away.

"Melina?" She jumped and turned around.

"Bloody hell Harry! You're supposed to make noise when you walk up behind a person." She told him.

"Did Draco Malfoy just kiss you?" Harry asked, ignoring her comment.

"Yes, I believe he did. Don't ask me why. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry. And if I don't eat now, my stomach is going to growl all through 'transfiguration'." She turned and walked in the direction Draco had gone, leaving behind a very confused Harry Potter.

* * *

"I'm getting kind of worried." Harry commented two weeks later in the common room with Ron and Hermione.

"What about?" Hermione asked.

"Melina. I think she may be spending to much time with Malfoy. I think either he's starting to rub off on her or she's starting to rub off on him. I don't know which is worse." Harry said, pacing the length of the room. "Malfoy's not the most trustworthy person to hang around."

"Well, maybe Melina knows how to handle people like him. I mean, there's still a lot about her we don't know." Ron pointed out.

"Hi guys." They turned to see Melina rushing pass them and into the girls dorm. "Bye guys." She said, rushing back out of the dorm, wand in hand, and then out of the tower.

"Mental, that one." Ron muttered and Harry had to agree.

* * *

Melina walked down the stairs, slipping her wand into her pocket, and through the halls toward her destination.

"I thought losers traveled in packs." Melina turned to see Pansy and several other Slytherin girls starting to follow her.

"Obviously the do." Melina nodded at the group of girls as she exited the castle and walked out to the courtyard with the girls following.

"You think you're better than us, don't you? Just because you're a Potter. Well, let me tell you, you're not." Pansy said as Melina stopped at the start of the bridge.

"What are you talking about? Is that the best you can come up with? That I think I'm better than you? You need some lessons in insulting." Melina asked, smirking slightly as she turned to face the other witches.

"Let's see how brave you are without you brother or you little friends." Pansy said whipping her wand out and pointing it at Melina.

"_Expelliarmus!_" To both the girl's surprise, the wand flew out of Pansy's hand and clattered to the ground. "What is the meaning of this Ms. Parkinson?" Snape stood there holding his wand with Draco standing behind him, arms crossed in front of him and a smirk firmly in place.

"I-She-she started it!" Pansy lied. Melina rolled her eyes and sighed.

"If she started it, how is it your wand was out and hers as not?" Pansy's mouth opened and closed as if she were a fish at Snapes question. "That's what I thought. Ten points from Slytherin. Now, get_ inside_." He pointed to the castle and Pansy stomped all the way in, her friends and Snape, after he had retrieved Pansy's wand, following.

"I heard Pansy say to her little friends that she wanted to find you and bother you. I figured they were going to try something so I grabbed Snape on the way here." Draco told her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Well, someone's got to keep an eye on you. So where were we going to go before the annoying Ms. Parkinson decided she wanted to try and duel with a Potter?"

"I thought we should go play." She said simply. He gapped at her and she rolled her eyes. "_With our wands, genius_." She said pulling her wand out of her pocket and tapping him on the head with it. "Follow me." She said leading the way to the middle of the bridge. "I come here when I need to think. And it's a lot of fun too." She pointed her wand at the water and whispered a charm spell. Some of the water flew up in a line and swirled around, and stopped in the shape of an owl, before splashing back down. Draco tried but all he managed to do was make the water splash up a bit.

"I guess you need to be less preoccupied when doing charms." He said placing his wand in his pocket and leaned on the railing.

"Yeah, that kind of helps. What's up?" She asked as the water formed a snake.

"I got a letter from my father. He-he wants me to meet Voldemort and become a Death Eater." Draco sighed. Melina turned away from the water that dropped back down halfway through a lion.

"What? Well, you don't want to, do you? I mean, a Death Eater?" Melina said leaned on the railing next to him.

"Well, no, but I don't really have a choice, do I? No one says no to him and lives." Draco said.

"Him who? Your father or Voldemort?" Melina asked making him laugh.

"Well, I was talking about Voldemort but my father could fit there too." He stopped laughing and turned to face her. "What should I do?" He asked.

"Write him back and tell him no. He can't touch you while you're here at the school. If you feel like you need to, you can tell Dumbledore or even Snape. I sure Dumbledore'll let you stay here the summer if you feel like you need to. I'll stay with you if you want." She told him. "Come on. I'm starving. I missed lunch." She said dragging him along behind her.

"I starving too." He said.

"Well, good. Then you can come and join me." She said. He pulled her to a stop before they got off the bridge and turned her to face him.

"I never said I was starving for food." He told her. She rolled her eyes but let him pull her into his arms. He smirked before capturing her lips with his own.

* * *

They entered the Great hall a while later and found the only occupant, professor Dumbledore, sitting at the teachers table.

"You're a little late for lunch." He said, smiling slightly.

"We got distracted and didn't realize how late it was until our stomachs growled." Melina told him.

"Well, then come and sit with me. I could use the company." Dumbledore gestured to his right where two plates of food suddenly appeared. The two teenagers smiled and sat down at the professor's table and ate a much-needed meal.

"Well, now that you are fed, I take it you two will not be at the feast tonight." Dumbledore said after they had finished.

"I doubt it. Seeing as the feast is in only two hours." Melina said as they plates disappeared.

"Well, the lake is lovely this time of day. Good night." Dumbledore said leaving the table.

"The lake it is." Draco said pulling Melina to her feet and leading her out of the castle to the lake. Melina picked up a flat rock and flung it at the water. It skipped a few times before falling beneath the surface. Draco sat down behind her and leaned up against a fallen tree. He reached up and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and they watched the sun set.

"We should get inside. That potion doesn't always work for Remus and we don't want to get caught in his path if it doesn't work." Melina said standing up and pulling him to his feet and started to lead him back to the castle.

"Wait a minute." He pulled her to a stop. "I have something for you." He said reaching into his pocket. "I forgot about it earlier. Where is it?" He reached into his other pocket searching for whatever it was he had for her. He patted the front of his sweater and smiled as he felt something on the inside. "Close your eyes. And no peeking." He said unbuttoning the dark green sweater and reaching inside. Melina raised her eyebrows but did as she was told. She felt something go over her head and drop around her neck. "Alright. You can look now." He told her. She opened her eyes and looked down.

"It's beautiful." She said, lifting the long beaded necklace for closer examination. "Draco. It's Slytherin colors." It was in fact Slytherin colors. It was made up with green and silver beads and at the end hung a metal charm in the shape of a diamond. Draco looked at it and frowned.

"Huh. I got it because I thought it matched your eyes." He told her and she laughed.

"Thank you. I love it. You really didn't have to get it for me." She told him.

"Yes I did. It's pretty and it reminded me of you."

* * *

"Malfoy actually said that?" Hermione asked later when Melina had gotten back to the dorm and told her and Ginny what she did that day.

"Yes. It was sweet of him wasn't it?" Melina answered.

"I just can't imagine Draco Malfoy saying something like that ." Ginny commented and Hermione agreed.

"Well obviously you two don't have very good imaginations." Melina teased pushing them so they got off her bed. "Good night." She closed the curtains around her bed and lay back on her pillow and closed her eyes.

* * *

The professors were noticing a change in Draco's attitude as the school year went on. He was lot more civil with the people around him; especially the Gryffindors. But the biggest change was on Halloween. Dumbledore stood up a week before the holiday and announced they were going to have a costume ball.

"You will all be allowed to dress as anything you like. Points will be awarded for creative costumes." The headmaster told them at breakfast. Everyone was so excited and Hermione and Ginny dragged Melina to Hogsmeade to find costumes. Melina wandered off to other costumes while the two girls looked at gypsy and pirate costumes. A costume caught her eye and she knew it was the one she was going to wear. So she bought it and asked for it to be delivered to the school. She called to the girls that she'd see them back in the common room and left the village and headed back to Hogwarts by herself.

The week passed quickly for the students but not quickly enough for the professors. Everyone knew what everyone else was wearing as the students talked nonstop about their costumes. Even the professors knew what everyone was wearing. Well, everyone except Melina. She refused to tell anyone what her costume; not even Draco could get her to tell. On the night of the ball, she waited until everyone had left Gryffindor tower before she got dressed. She placed the necklace Draco had given her around her neck as a final touch before she left the tower for the Great hall.

"Well," She said to herself as she approached the Hall. "here goes nothing."

* * *


	7. A Costume Ball, a Death Eater Father and...

Ch. 7 - A Costume Ball, a Death Eater Father and a Familiar Name

The Great hall was set up almost the same as it usually was. The only difference was that the four long tables were gone and replaced with a bunch of round ones that were placed on the outer edges of the room so people could dance in the center (and the fact that there were pumpkins floating over everyone's heads added to the difference).

The doors opened and everyone turned to see who had come in late. All the boys in the room stared wide-eyed and jaw dropped at the person, obviously a girl, standing in the doorway. She wore a strapless white gown that puffed out at the waist and down to just above the floor and white gloves that went just passed her elbows. The dress sparkled here and there from tiny diamonds fitted all over it. A small mask fit over her eyes stuck there only by magic and her hair was clipped back on both sides by simple silver clips. Thin, almost invisible fairy-like wings sat on her back stuck on by the same charm that held her mask in place. Her shoes were tall and sandal-like and the straps were ribbons that tied half way up her calves and the ends hung down to just above her ankles.

No one was quite sure as to who she was, that is until they notice part of a scar that wasn't concealed by the mask. One person knew who she was as soon as she stepped into the room. Draco let everyone take her in before he walked up to her and held out his hand.

"You look beautiful." He whispered as he led her to a table were Ginny and Ron were sitting.

"You don't look half bad yourself." Melina whispered back. He was dressed as the phantom of the opera, half mask and all.

"Melina, you look gorgeous!" Ginny said as Melina and Draco sat down.

"Absolutely stunning." Ron agreed.

"Thanks. You guys look great too." Melina said. Ron had dressed as a knight, only he had magiced his armor so that it wasn't heavy. Or rather, Melina suspected, he had gotten Hermione to charm it. His helmet sat next to him on the table. Ginny had decided to be a gypsy. She had a long frilly skirt and a top that came down a few inches above her belly button. She had a bandana on her head, long bangled necklaces and giant hoop earrings.

"Where are Harry and Hermione?" Melina asked .

"Dancing." Ron said pointing to the dance floor to a girl dressed as a pirate and a boy dressed as a 16th century price that looked curiously like Gilderoy Lockheart.

"May I have your attention please?" Dumbledore said standing to his feet. The room fell quiet as the music stopped and everyone gave him their attention. "I have divided all the points for each costume into their separate houses. And the house winner for tonight. . .Gryffindor." All the Gryffindors cheered loudly. "And that's all because of the stunning entrance of Ms. Potter. You may resume your partying."

Harry and Hermione went to get drinks from the drink table before they continued dancing. Crabbe and Goyle, who were rarely seen around Draco anymore, walked up and pushed the two out of the way to get their own drinks. Harry and Hermione landed on the floor and before the professors could do anything, Draco had stocked over and glared at the two Slytherins with a look that said "Try anything else and you'll be sorry." Crabbe and Goyle backed away quickly and retreated to a Slytherin table. Draco shook his head and turned and held out his hands to help the Gryffindors up. Hermione and, surprisingly, Harry accepted his offer and he helped them up.

"Thanks Malfoy." Hermione said without realizing she had thanked him.

"You're welcome Hermione." Draco said. Harry's eyebrows went up and Hermione stared, wide-eyed at him.

"You just called my by my first name." She stated.

"I did. Get use to it." Draco led the way back to the table.

"Why did you do that?" Harry spoke up before they sat down.

"Do what?" Draco asked, turning to face him. The Hall was almost as quiet as it had gotten when Melina arrived.

"Help us just now." Harry said.

"Because I'm no longer stooping to their level. I think I'm starting to go soft, and it's all her fault." Draco said the last past sarcastically, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Melina.

"Glad to be of service." The girl said.

"Well, thanks Draco. If she trusts you then I guess it's safe for me to try. Truce?" Harry said holding out his hand to the Slytherin. The Hall was now completely silent, everyone waiting to see what would happen. Even the professors were explosion. Draco looked down at Harry's hand and then back up. He smirked and put out his own hand.

"Truce." He said as the two shook hanks.

"Wonderful." Melina said, standing to her feet. "Now that that's settled, shall we dance?" She asked holding her hand out to Draco. Everyone was staring, trying to figure out what had just happened as the music started back up and Melina and Draco started dancing. The professors were equally shocked at Draco's change of heart, but no one was more shocked than a man standing in the doorway of the Hall watching whole scene taking place.

"Draco." Melina said stopping their dance and looking at the man. Draco turned and nearly fell over.

"Father." He said.

"What. Are. You. DOING!" Lucius Malfoy nearly screamed causing all the students, minus the Slytherins, to jump. Draco stepped in front of Melina in case his father decided to draw his wand. "Answer me!" Draco kept his mouth tightly shut; he knew when and when not to talk.

"Lucius." Dumbledore said raising to his feet. "Calm yourself."

"Calm myself! CALM MYSELF!" Lucius screamed.

"If you do not you will be removed from this castle." Dumbledore said forcefully. The other professors were standing now as well. Lucius took a deep seething breath before he spoke again.

"Outside Draco." He hissed through his teeth.

"No." Draco said taking off his mask and handing it behind him to Melina for her to hold.

"Excuse me?" Lucius asked.

"If you have something to say, go ahead and say it. I don't care who hears." Draco said crossing his arms in front of him. Lucius took several calm steps toward his son. Draco held his ground.

"Draco," Lucius said as softly as he could. "I love you, I really do. But if you're going hang around and dance with halfbloods I cannot allow you to return home. You know what would happen if you came back. I'm doing this for your own good."

"It's alright father. I'll make it easy for you. I renounce the name of Malfoy." Draco said, his head held high.

"Very well." With that Lucius turned and walked swiftly out of the Hall. Draco let out a relieved sounding sigh and turned back around to Melina.

"You renounce the name of Malfoy?" The girl asked, just as surprised as everyone else in the room. Her voice sounded loud in the dead silent Hall. Draco just nodded as he took his mask back from Melina. Nobody could believe what had just transpired.

* * *

"If you renounce it, what are you going to use for your last name?" Harry asked later when they (he, Draco, Melina, Hermione, Ron and Ginny) were out in the courtyard after the ball.

"My mother's maiden name." Draco answered, wrapping his cape over Melina's bare, shivering shoulders.

"Which is. . .?" Melina asked, accepting the cape gratefully.

"Black." The five Gryffindors stared at him in shock.

"Black?" Ron asked. "As in Sirius Black?"

"Yeah. He's like. . .some kind of cousin of mine or something like that." Draco tried to remember. "It's no big deal really. It's not like I'm not use to having murders in my family."

"Right." Harry said slowly, looking Melina in the eye. Silence fell between them all as they watched Harry and Melina silently communicate with their eyes.

"Are they ok?" Draco whispered to Ron.

"I don't know. I've never seen them do this before." Ron whispered back.

"Harry." Melina finally spoke. Harry sighed heavily and waved his hand in a 'go ahead' gesture. "Thank you. Draco," She turned to him. "Sirius Black is not a murderer. He's innocent." She watched his eyebrows go up and he laughed slightly but stopped when he saw her serious face.

"You can't be serious." He said finally.

"Of course I'm not. He's mine and Harry's godfather." Melina told him. Ginny giggled and the others just shook their heads.

"He's what?" Draco asked.

"Our godfather. And I know what you're thinking. We are not mental." Melina said, crossing her arms in front of her. Draco sat there for a moment staring off into space before he looked back at her, but before he could say anything they were interrupted.

"You all should be inside at that this time of night." They turned at Snapes voice to see him standing behind them in the entrance to the school.

"How long do you think he's been standing there?" Melina heard Hermione whisper to Ginny.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked the potions master.

"Long enough." He stated. Melina raised her eyebrows and looked over at Harry who mouthed 'say please' to her. She smiled slightly and turned back to Snape.

"Tell me what you heard us talking about." She said.

"Why should I?" Snape asked.

"Please."

"You told Draco about Sirius Black." Snape said without thinking.

"Thank you. Come on. He's right. We should get inside before it gets to cold." Melina led the way past Snape and back into the castle.

* * *


	8. Something’s Coming, Who, What, Where?

Ch. 8 - Something's Coming, Who, What, Where?

Two months before the end of the term exams, the school was still buzzing about Draco's attitude at the Halloween ball. It was something no one would have expected from him.

"Ms. Potter?" Melina stopped her walk towards the library where she was meeting Hermione to study and turned around at the headmasters' voice.

"Yes professor?" She asked.

"I would like to have a word with you. If you'll follow me please." Dumbledore turned and led the way to, Melina assumed, his office.

"Is there something wrong professor?" Melina asked slowly as they walked up the stairs.

"We will find out when we get to my office." Dumbledore answered. They continued to walk up the stairs in silence until they reached the gargoyles where Dumbledore said the password and then they continued up more stairs and entered his office. Melina noticed when she stepped into the room that they weren't alone. Remus stood near the window looking out it, Snape stood on one side of Dumbledore's desk and McGonagall stood on the other.

"I'm in trouble aren't I?" Melina said as she sank into a chair in front of the desk.

"That depends on your definition of trouble." Remus said not looking away from the window.

"Melina, something has come to our attention." Dumbledore told her.

"Ah." Melina said.

"Professor Snape has informed us of several occasions where you and your friends have slipped passed him." The headmaster went on.

"Is that a problem?" Melina asked innocently.

"Yes." Snape spoke up.

"You have also gotten passed the fat lady's portrait without a password several times." McGonagall added.

"Really? Um. . ." Melina tried to find something to say.

"Melina?" Dumbledore said slowly. "Have you been using your enchantress abilities on professor Snape and the fat lady?" Melina didn't say a word as she looked everywhere but at the teachers. Finally she took a deep breath and looked back at Dumbledore.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied easily.

"Melina." Remus said, finally looking at her.

"What? Enchantress? Really professors, there's no such thing. They're made up beings in stories that older wizards tell the younger ones." The words came to her as if she had been thinking about them all day.

"She's been spending to much time with her brother. Harry lies easily too." Snape said sourly and Melina glared at him.

"Now, now Snivelus," A voice spoke up before Melina could say anything. "Is that any way to speak of one of my godchildren?"

"Sirius!" Melina exclaimed, leaping out of her chair into his arms. Sirius chuckled as he hugged her.

"Hello 'Lina." He said and he set her feet back on the floor. "Now what's this I hear about you being in trouble? Isn't that your brother's job?"

"What is he doing here?" Snape asked venomously.

"I asked him to come. I hope you don't mind Remus." Dumbledore whispered to the DADA teacher. "I thought she might be a bit more forthcoming with someone who was less of an authority figure." Remus merely nodded.

"Melina? Are you going to tell me?" Sirius asked as Melina sat back down.

"Well. . . I. . .I didn't do anything wrong. Did I?" She said finally. Snape gapped at how fast Sirius had gotten her to semi-confess. Dumbledore smiled slightly.

"You used your 'power' to manipulate a teacher and a mystical being. If it was Peeves you had manipulated I would be less upset." He said.

"It's not manipulation it's just. . ." Melina stopped, trying to find a word.

"Manipulation?" Sirius asked humorously and she glared at him slightly.

"Ok, so it is manipulation. But there's no real harm in it." Melina defended herself.

"You manipulated a teachers' mind to do your own bidding. That is real harm if I'm not wrong." Dumbledore told her.

"Well, if professor Snape wasn't such an arse to the other students I wouldn't have to do it." Melina exploded.

"Melina." Remus said in a scolding voice.

"Don't you even start Remus." Melina said, her tone matching the venom heard occasionally in Snape's voice. "I have nothing against you personally professor," She said to Snape. "It's your manner with everyone else that I have a problem with."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked. Melina knew he understood what he was saying but went on anyway.

"The pure malice he has for everyone he comes in contact with." She stated. "I know that's how he normally deals with people and I'm grateful that he doesn't feel the need to treat me that way, but I think he should be a little more respectful to the rest of the students. Maybe than they'll respect him in turn." Snape opened his mouth to speak but Melina cut him off. "However, I understand that having them afraid of you works for you. I just think you should try not to take so many points off students who don't deserve it. Like Hermione for example."

"I'll keep that in mind." Snape said, not sounding the least bit interested in what Melina had just said.

"As will I." She told him. Silence hung in the room as Melina's tension grew and her mood continued to darken. She sat in the chair with her arms crossed in front of her and her eyes looking straight ahead where Dumbledore was sitting. But she wasn't looking at him, she was more looking through him. Nobody said a word as the watched her eyes closed and her eyes flick back and forth behind her eyelids.

"What's going on?" Snape finally broke the silence.

"Something's not right." Melina said, her eyes still closed.

"Melina, what do you feel?" Sirius asked, kneeling down next to her chair.

"What do you mean what does she feel?" Snape asked.

"Enchantresses have extremely sensitive feelings. They can feel dark magic creeping up on them from miles away." Remus explained. "Her enchantress powers are still surfacing so this might be the new one coming out."

"Melina, what do you feel?" Sirius repeated.

"Darkness. Evil. Anger." Her eyes popped open. "Something's coming."

* * *

"It is not up for discussion Severus." Dumbledore said as they walked down the halls.

"I do not think it is wise for him to stay." Snape argued.

"I know you don't. But I think it will make the Potters feel safe and Harry might not try something like he usually does when there's danger. He's staying." The headmaster told him. "He knows to stay in his animagus form."

"Very well headmaster." Snape finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Professors!" They looked up the hall to see Melina and a large black dog sprinting towards them. "I know what's coming!" Melina said, out of breath.

"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Death Eaters. A whole load of them." Melina told them.

"How do you know for sure?" Snape asked and the dog barked at him.

"Hush." Melina told it. "We saw them, Snuffles and I, from the astronomy tower. I went up there to see if what I was feeling was correct; he followed me." She gestured to Snuffles. "We saw them moving out of the forest. They stopped at the edge so I think they're waiting for it to get darker."

"The sun's almost set." Dumbledore said. He turned to Snuffles. "Take her--"

"No. I need to help. Not with the fighting but I have to help in some way." Melina interrupted.

"Very well. Have Harry show you where the secret passage that leads to Hogsmeade is. I want you to get all the students out of Hogwarts in case the Death Eaters get in. Do you understand?" Dumbledore asked her and she nodded. "Make sure Harry goes with you. Don't let him out of your sight." Melina nodded again.

"Alright. Come on Snuffles." She took off in the direction of Gryffindor tower with Sirius, er. . sorry, Snuffles, close behind.

* * *

"Here." Harry said, showing his sister the passage out of Hogwarts to Hogsmeade.

"Good. Thanks. Now come on. We have to get the students out of the school. Dumbledore's orders." Melina said, closing the passage door and pulling him along with her.

"Why? What's going on?" Harry said trying to pull Melina to a stop.

"Because and I can't tell you. And if you don't do as I say. . . I'll have Snuffles bite you." She told him, keeping her face straight as she dragged him behind her.

"Melina." Harry said, finally getting her to stop. "Tell me what's going on." Melina looked at him with a scowl.

"No. I'm sorry I have to do this Harry." She told him and he shook his head, knowing what she was going to do. "Please help me and please don't ask anymore questions." Harry straighten up and his face went blank.

"Alright." He said.

"Good, let's go." She said and continued to pull him towards their first destination: the Hufflepuff house. How she knew where the entrance was, she didn't know but she did and she entered by way of a magic word.

"How did you guys get in here? Where did you get our password? You're not---" Justin Flich-Fletchy rambled.

"Shut up." Melina cut him off. "Now you all need to listen to me. Dumbledore has instructed me to get you all out of the school. You and the rest of the houses. Harry will show the way to a secret passage to Hogsmeade where you will stay until one of the professor retrieves us. No questions asked. Understand?" The commanding tone Melina held in her voice was enough to make the Hufflepuffs follow Harry out without a word. "Well, that was easier than I thought." She said watching the Hufflepuffs file out. "Harry!" She called to him and he stopped and turned. "Please stay in Hogsmeade." He nodded and continued to led the way to the passageway. "Good. On to Gryffindor." Snuffles barked at her. "Why? Because I can get Ron and Hermione to help me. That's why. Now come on." She knew the Gryffindors would be easier to get to leave then the Ravenclaws. The Slytherins would be easy too.

"Hey Melina. What's going on? Cool dog." Seamus said as she enter the room.

"Thanks." She said. "Everybody listen up!" She called through the common room. Several Gryffindors came out of the dorms to see what was going on. "Dumbledore wants me to get everyone out of Hogwarts and into Hogsmeade. Ron will lead you to a passageway that leads right into the town. Does everyone understand?" She used the same voice she used with the Hufflepuffs to get her point across.

"Why?" Lavender Brown asked.

"Because I said and I'll explain once I get to Hogsmeade. Go on Ron. Hermione, come with me." Melina said walking back out of the tower, Snuffles and Hermione following closely behind.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as they made their way toward the Ravenclaw house.

"Death Eaters. Just don't tell anyone else. Especially not Harry." Melina told her as they reached the entrance and went in. "Nobody say a word. Just listen. You are all to follow Hermione to a passageway that will take you to Hogsmeade. Dumbledore's orders. You are not to ask questions. Understand?"

"Why should we listen to you?" Cho Chang asked snottily.

"If you do not wish to die a most horrible death then I suggest you do." Melina told her with a small smile. "Now go." Nobody made eye contact with her as they hurried quickly passed her. "Ok." She turned to Snuffles. "Last but not least. Slytherin." He growled as they left Ravenclaw and headed down toward the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was. "Here goes nothing." She said before she passed through the portrait.

"What are you doing in here? Get out now!" Pansy commanded.

"Back off." Melina said and Snuffles growled. The Slytherin girl backed up quickly and somebody left the common room. Probably to get Draco. Melina thought to herself as she scanned the room, not seeing him in there.

"Melina. What are you doing in here?" Draco said as he entered the room followed by the Slytherin who had went to get him.

"I'm here to take you all to Hogsmeade. Is something funny about that Parkinson?" Melina asked as Pansy started to laugh. The tone of her voice hit a Snape deadly one and Pansy quickly shook her head no. "Good. I'm going to lead you to a passageway that will take us to Hogsmeade. Dumbledore himself has given me that authority. No questions. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Nods all around the room. "Alright then. I will lead and if any of decide you don't want to come you'll have to take it up with Snuffles here. He's going to bring up the rear. Shall we?" She took Draco's hand and they turned and left the room. She looked over her shoulder and smirked at the sight of all the Slytherins following her. She turned back to Draco. "I like being in charge." She said and he laughed as the entered the passageway.

* * *

Ok, I know Melina's weird but just bear with me. I'm running low on ideas and just writing what pops into my head. 


	9. Questions, Panic, Escape and Injury

Ch. 9 - Questions, Panic, Escape and Injury

"Are you going to tell us why we're here?" Balise asked when they were all packed into the Three Broomsticks. It was quite a task for the witch running it at that time, to get over two hundred students to fit in it, but after a few expanding spells they were all seated in their own seats, cramped, but comfortable.

"What makes you so sure I even know?" Melina answered. "Just because I was told to get you lot out of the school doesn't mean I know what's going on."

"What are you all looking at me for?" Harry said when all eyes turned to him. "I don't know what's going on." Snuffles barked at the window and Melina and Draco, being closest to it, looked out to see what was going on.

"Oh Merlin." Melina said as both their eyes widened at the sight. "Everybody has their wands right?" She asked still looking out the window. There was a chorus of 'yes' and Melina felt someone else come up to the window but know who it was.

"Oh Merlin is right." Harry said, pulling out his wand and moving toward the door.

"I'm not allowed to let you out of this room or out of my sight." Melina said grabbing his arm. "Don't make me say it Harry." She pleaded. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron were the only ones who really knew what she was talking about so the others looked at her in confusion. "Snuffles has permission to bite you if you try to leave, and I have permission to do what I must."

"What's going on out there?" A Ravenclaw called from the other side of the room.

"Hermione, seal the doors and windows." Melina told her, ignoring the students' question. She looked back out the window at the figure she had just seen. It was still where it had been, standing in the light of on to the street lamps, clad in a black hooded robe.

"Do you think it's a Death Eater?" Draco whispered so only she could hear.

"I can't tell if it's a Death Eater or Snape." She whispered back. "Sealing the windows and doors is just in case."

"Then why did Snuffles bark?" Draco asked, continuing to whisper.

"Snuffles hates Snape just as much as he hates Death Eaters." Draco chuckled at that and shook his head.

"Why can't you tell us what's going on?" Seamus asked. "It can't be as bad as not knowing." Melina put a hand over Harry's mouth before he could say anything.

"Let's not cause a panic, ok?" Se told him.

"A panic over what?" Ron asked from behind Harry. The room was quiet again, all eyes on Melina, who was presenting glaring at Ron. She sighed as he shrugged apologetically and she turned to the rest of room. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out and she sighed.

"There are-are-um. . ." She took a deep breath before she straighten up. "There are Death Eaters at the school and possibly one right outside." She heard herself say loudly and straightforward. There were gasps heard around the room and everyone's eyes widened as they heard what she just said. "But I can't be sure about the one outside. It could be Snape for all I know."

"Death Eaters?" A first year Hufflepuff whispered.

"Yes and I didn't want to tell you all because I didn't want to cause a panic or in some Slytherin cases, a riot." Melina said eyeing the Slytherins, minus Draco, carefully.

"Melina." Draco said, drawing her attention back to the window. Melina looked back out and saw not one but now three figures outside, all hooded and cloaked.

"Great." She said slumping back in her seat next to Draco.

"What now?" Harry asked moving so her could see out. Melina leaned forward to Hermione.

"Did you seal it so he can't get too?" She whispered and Hermione smiled and nodded.

"What do you see Potter?" Balise asked.

"Two more." Harry answered and moved toward the door and tried to leave.

"Didn't I tell you Snuffles has permission to bite you. And I had Hermione seal the doors and windows. Nothing can get out and hopefully nothing can get in." Melina said almost tiredly as she watched the figures conversing with each other.

"Ok. You know when I said I didn't want to cause a panic?" She asked still looking outside. "Well, I'm about to cause one. For two reasons. One, there's now five of them." She heard a whimper from the back of the room. "Two, they're coming this way."

"Well." Dean Thomas said. "Wands at the ready then." He pulled out his wand and everyone else did the same. Melina watched as the figures drew nearer and out of the street lamps.

"What if they're teachers?" Neville asked, his voice wavering.

"I don't think those are teachers." Draco said following Melina eyes and looking outside. Snuffles barked again and back away from the door, pulling Harry with him.

"We need to get as far away from the doors and windows as we can. Just in case the spell doesn't hold. No offense Hermione." Melina said as they all packed themselves in the middle of the room. The door rattled as someone tried to get in and they heard someone say a spell. There was a shimmering and everything was quiet, the only sound was Snuffles growling at the door.

"I don't think your spell work Hermione." Ron whispered as the door started to open.

"Nobody move." Melina hissed at the group. Everyone stood frozen still while the door opened the rest of the way.

"Well, look what we have here." The person under the hood said in a cold, dark voice. "Looks like I found the Hogwarts students. Are you afraid child?" He asked a first year who moved so she was now behind a seventh year.

"What do you want?" Draco asked as he watched Melina out of the corner of his eye. She was watching the windows, seeing if she could see any of the other people.

"What do I want? I don't want anything. It's what someone else wants that matters." The man answered.

"And what, pray tell, does someone else want?" Melina spoke up, not looking away from the windows. If she was scared, her voice didn't betray her.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to look at the person you were addressing?" The man said, clearly avoiding the question. Melina turned slowly and looked directly at the hooded man, a smirk firmly in place. "I have been sent," The man said, now ignoring her. "to kill all who appose my master."

"All who appose your master? Isn't that a little exocentric?" Lavender spoke up, surprising those around her.

"Silence!" The man bellowed. "To show I do not kill helpless little children, I, and my colleges, are willing to give you a running start." The other four figures appeared behind him. Melina looked over at Harry and then to a window. Harry followed her eyes and then nodded.

"If you're going to give us a running start it'll have to be fair. You'll have to turn around and count to twenty." Melina told him, nudging Draco slightly toward the window, pretending she was just shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The man looked at her for a moment before answering.

"Very well. I'm a fair man. Twenty it is." He turned around and gestured for his colleges to do the same.

"No peeking." Melina added as she moved the students toward the windows after opening all of them with a spell. They all climbed out and took off in different directions. Melina made sure Harry and Snuffles were with her and sent Draco after Hermione and Ron. The students were intermixed as they ran through the street and into the woods, such as Slytherins with Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws with Slytherins, Gryffindors with Hufflepuffs and so on. Melina and Harry were with a few first year Gryffindors, and couple sixth year Slytherins in the woods next to the town.

"Not the best combination." Melina said as she and Snuffles brought up the rear, and Harry led the way. The group stopped short, causing Melina to nearly collide with the back of a Slytherin.

"Quiet everyone." She heard Harry whisper. Up ahead, she saw a shadow pass. It looked a lot like a person with a wand. They all dropped to the ground and hid behind a few trees as another shadow approached the first.

"Did you find any of them?" One asked the other.

"No sir. We can't find any." The other answered.

"They can't be this hard to find, they're only children. Continue searching. Master will not be happy if we come back empty handed." The two shadows separated and went off away from the group of students. They sighed in relief and stood back up and continued walking silently through the woods.

"I think we should head back to the school." Melina said, coming up beside Harry while Snuffles watched from the back.

"What about all the other students?" Harry asked.

"I'll find them. You lead these few back to the castle along with any you might find on the way. I hate to do this but, please go directly back to the castle, and don't try to take on any Death Eaters unless they threaten you." Melina told him.

"Alright." Harry responded automatically.

"Snuffles is coming with me. I'll see you back at the castle." With that She dropped back and went off in search for the other students, Snuffles close behind.

* * *

"Quietly." Draco whispered as they walked through the shadows of the trees. "I think there's something up there." He was leading Hermione and Ron, a few Hufflepuffs and two Ravenclaws through the woods as quietly as he could.

"What is it?" Hermione asked from behind him.

"I don't know." Draco answered gesturing for them all to stop.

"Should I say 'boo'?" The students all jumped and turned around to see who was there. Melina stood there, her hands behind her back and Snuffles sitting next to her.

"'Lina!" Draco hissed. "Don't do that! Are you trying to give us all heart attacks?"

"Possibly." Draco glared at her. "I want you all to head back to the castle. Quietly. It's probably safer there than it is here."

"What about you?" Ron whispered.

"I'm going to find the rest of the students." Melina told him.

"I'm coming with you, no arguments." Draco said before she could protest.

"Alright. Ron, lead them back. You and Hermione probably know where the secret passageways are just as well as Harry. If you find any other students on your way, take them with you. Stay safe." With that Melina turned and lead the way in the opposite direction, Draco and Snuffles following.

"Where exactly did you find this dog?" Draco asked quietly, eyeing Snuffles carefully. Melina paused and then turned to him.

"Do you really want to know?" She asked, looking back and forth between the two. Draco nodded and Melina nodded to Snuffles. Draco's eyes widened as he watched the dog slowly turn into a man.

"Merlin." He finally managed to say.

"Draco, I'd like to introduce you to my godfather Sirius Black. Sirius, this is Draco." Melina made the introductions as quietly as she could.

"Malfoy?" Sirius asked shaking the shocked boy's hand.

"He renounced the name of Malfoy. He's using his mother's maiden name." Melina explained.

"Is he now? I can't say I don't like it, 'cause if I did, I'd be saying I don't like my own name." Sirius said, trying to get some sort of reaction from Draco, who was still shell shocked. That is until Melina stamped on his foot.

"Pleasure to meet you sir." He said finally.

"Best turn back into Snuffles. Don't want any Death Eaters seeing you like this." Melina told her godfather. Sirius nodded and slowly turned back into the large black dog that was Snuffles.

* * *

"How many more do you think there are?" Draco asked as they walked through the shadows of the buildings in Hogsmeade. They had found a good amount of students wandering through the woods. A couple of the groups were battered, having been found and narrowly escaped, but no one was missing so far.

"I don't think there's a lot more. We found about 3/4 of them so far. There might be two or three groups left." Melina said as they moved quickly out of the shadows and into another. They stopped for a moment to look around a building and started off again. Well, they would have if Snuffles hadn't grabbed Melina's cloak with his teeth.

"Draco wait." She whispered, pulling him back behind the building. "What is it?" She asked the dog form of her godfather. Snuffles looked off in the direction of the Three Broomsticks and Melina followed his gaze. The building was a few yards away and standing in front of it were two of the Death Eaters and they were obviously guarding something inside. "We'll go around the back to see if there's any students in there." Melina gestured for them to head in the direction they had just come and moved around to the back of the Three Broomsticks.

"Do you see anything?" Draco whispered as he kept an eye out behind them for any other Death Eaters.

"This isn't good." Melina said as she looked through the window with Snuffles.

"What isn't good? Are there students in there?" Draco asked, worry clear in his voice.

"Four students and our potions master. Along with four Death Eaters. I think there's more of them than we thought." Melina told him. Snuffles huffed at the window at Snapes form. "No Sirius, we have to help him. I happen to like our dear professor Snape. Draco," She said turning back to the Slytherin. "I want you to go and see if you can find anymore students. If you do, or don't, go back to the castle." Draco opened his mouth to argue but Melina cut him off. "No do as I say and don't make me say the magic word. I'll be fine, I've got my godfather after all." She gestured to Snuffles. Draco heaved a sigh and nodded reluctantly.

"Don't go and get yourself killed. Harry'll never forgive me if you do that." He pulled her to her and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "Be careful." He said and turned and headed silently into the dark woods. Melina turned back to the window and saw Snuffles looking at her, his head cocked to the side and she could have sworn he was smiling.

"Did I forget to mention that he's my boyfriend?" She asked innocently before turning back to look through the window. "Ginny, Seamus, I think that's a Hufflepuff, and Balise Zabini. What an odd combination." She whispered to herself. "Best think of how to get them out of there, shouldn't we?" Snuffles gave a quiet 'woof'. "Because they were my responsibility. I can't just leave them there. Come on. Let's take care of the ones outside first." She walked silently around the building and peeked around the corner.

The two Death Eaters were stand at the door not moving. "Potrificus Totalus." She whispered and one of the men(or woman) fell to the ground unmoving. The other took one look the rounded the corner. "Stupefy. Potrificus Totalus." Melina said in one breath and that one, too, went down. Snuffles dragged them both to the woods and Melina put a second binding spell on them that bound them to a tree. "I think that was too easy." She said as she moved toward the door. She saw five wands on a table next to one of the Death Eaters and opened the door ever so slightly. "Wands." She whispered, holding out her hands. All five wands flew quickly into her hand and she re-shut the door. "Those have to be the stupidest Death Eaters I've ever seen." She said as she slipped back to the back of the building, wands in hand, and Snuffles following close behind.

She found the back door and entered without a sound, only pausing long enough to hold the door open for the large black dog. Taking a deep breath, she dropped to the floor and crawled to the door that led into the main room where the students and Snape were being held. Good thing it's open. She thought to herself as she crawled through the open door to behind to counter. She went to the other side and looked around the corner and found herself looking at Snape back. This is a little too easy. She looked back to see Snuffles lying on the other side of the door, waiting to pounce if need be. She moved along the back of the row of chairs that held the students. Way to easy. Although it looks like they're all under binding spells. She put the wands on the inside of her cloak and crawled backward back around the counter.

"How tragic to come so far and accomplish nothing." She looked to her side and saw who she suspected was the same man who she had baited into counting to twenty.

"Not nothing. I had fun." Melina said, keeping her mind on anything but Sirius, just in case he could get into her mind. She stood to her feet and pointed her wand at him. She could felt his smirk from under his hood.

"There are five of us and one of you. How could you possibly take on all of us at once?" He asked, holding his gaze on her wand.

"Who said I'm going to take you on?" She asked sweetly. "Now don't move I want to show you a trick." She turned back to the students and Snape and pointed her wand at them. "Sulatot Sucifirtop!" She yelled. They five of them broke out of their binds and stood to their feet. The wands in Melina's inside pocket somehow managed to make it to her hand and then into theirs. The man glared at her and then swiped the wand out of her hand, pulling his out at the same time. Ginny and the other students dropped to the floor as the other Death Eaters pulled their wands out. Melina stood frozen in her spot, looking at the man and then down at her wand.

"Out of luck I'd say. Crucius!" He said, the spell flew from his wand in, what seemed to Melina, slow motion. She closed her eyes and felt wave after wave of pain hit her. She heard Sirius bark and Snape shout but it all sounded distant as she hit the floor, blackness coming over her.

* * *

I have this story finished. It's just taking a while to update. 


	10. What To Do, What To Do

Ch. 10 - What To Do, What To Do

"Shh. You'll wake her." Melina heard as consciousness slowly coming back to her. She tried to move but found quickly that it was way to painful. So she settled for cracking her eyes open.

"Too late, she's awake." She felt lips press against her forehead and she turned to see a very blurry person. She blinked a couple of times to get her eyes back in focus and finally was able to make out Draco's face.

"I thought I told you to be careful." He said with a smirk.

"I was careful. Until my wand left my hand." She defended herself. "Are all the students ok? How long have I been out?"

"All the students are fine. Minor injuries and I don't think you want to know how long." Harry spoke up from her other side.

"If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't've asked." She said, looking from Draco to Harry to the others in the room, which included Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Remus and even Snape. Sirius was also there, in his dog form incase any other students decided to drop by for a visit. "How long?"

"Two weeks." Ginny told her and Melina gapped at them.

"Two weeks? I've been out for two weeks? How is that possible?" She asked looking up at Dumbledore and Snape.

"What I would like to know is how you found out that saying 'Potrificus Totalus' backwards would undo any binding spell." Snape said.

"That's sort of a long drawn out story, how 'bout answering my question." Melina said quickly, not looking at Remus's smirking face.

"Have you ever been hit by the Cruciatus Curse before?" Dumbledore asked, taking a step toward her as Draco helped her sit up.

"No." She answered.

"If you had been, your body would have known what to expect and not have put you under so long. Am I correct Harry?" Dumbledore asked him and he nodded.

"You've been hit by the Cruciatus Curse?" Melina asked, eyebrows raised.

"Two times too many." Harry said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Draco muttered.

"Alright. Ms. Potter still needs rest. Everybody out." Pomfrey said, ushering them toward the door. "Except you," She said to the dog, which hadn't moved from his spot next to Melina's bed. "I suppose you may stay." Draco gave Melina one last kiss on the forehead before he followed the others out the door. Snuffles gave a quiet 'woof' and Melina laughed slightly.

"Oh stop it. If he tries anything you'll be the first to know I promise." She said as she leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes back up.

* * *

It was another week before Pomfrey would let Melina leave and by then she had gotten her full strength back. She had begged Dumbledore to allow Sirius to stay in the castle in dog form until he got sick of the place and decided to leave. Not that he would. The headmaster agreed only when Melina told him she felt safer with him there and that she could somehow understand him in his dog form. Dumbledore let Sirius stay in Gryffindor tower and Hermione conjured a bed and he slept in the common room.

Melina was on her way to the library a week after Pomfrey released to study with Hermione to catch up on the three weeks worth of work she missed and found herself being followed by the large black dog known as Snuffles.

"You know, nothings going to happen to me while I'm in the school. You really don't have to follow me." She told him and he 'woofed' at her. "Making up for lost time, huh? I see. Well, I'm not going to turn you away. I just don't know how Madam Pince is going to react to a huge black dog in her library." She as they turned and entered the library.

"What is _it_ doing in my library?" Madam Pince asked as soon as the two entered.

"I'm sorry Madam Pince. I can't get him to stop following me. I think he thinks he has to protect me even while I'm in the school. You could try to get him to leave, but I don't think he'll listen. He's got a mind of his own." Melina said with as much sincerity as she could draw out. Pince sighed gestured for them to continue. Melina nodded and headed to the back of the library where Hermione was waiting.

"You made it this time. Hello Snuffles." Hermione said as Melina sat down.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Can we get started? I have to meet Draco for potions in an hour and a half." Melina said. "Don't ask." She added as Hermione's eyebrows went up.

"Alright. We'll do 'History of Magic' today since it's the only one that doesn't actually involve doing magic. Later when we're both in the common room we'll try to do 'Charms' and maybe 'Transfiguration'." Hermione said and they got started.

* * *

Melina walked down the halls toward the classroom where she was meeting Draco and felt eyes on her. She knew people were watching her for two reasons: one, there was a large black dog walking next to her and two, she'd gotten them all to safety during the Death Eater attack; even if she was just acting under orders from Dumbledore. She sighed as she found herself heading down a hallway that held Pansy and her group of losers-ahem, sorry, friends--and they were standing directly in the middle of the hall. Either they didn't see her or just wanted to have an excuse to fight, they didn't move.

"Stay here." She whispered to Snuffles to stay on the other side of the corner. "I'll call if I need you." And she continued walking toward the girls.

"Well, if it isn't the loser herself." Pansy said eliciting laughs from the others in the group. "I'm sorry did you want to pass? You'll have to say the password." She snickered.

"And what would that be Pansy? 'Slytherin girls are losers'?" Melina said placing her hands behind her back.

"You don't know what the password is?" Pansy said in mock shock, ignoring the comment. "Come now Potter. I thought you were smart."

"You haven't had those insulting lesson yet I see." Melina said, keeping her face neutral. "I'm sort of disappointed. I thought you of all people would take that kid of advice."

"I don't need insulting lessons. You're just not worth my time." Pansy said snobbishly, crossing her arms in front of her, revealing her wand in her hand. "Now come on. Try to guess the password."

"This is the thanks I get for helping to save you? I should have left you behind." Melina said coldly.

"What's. The password. Potter." Pansy said icily.

"I'm going to chose. . . Snuffles." Melina concluded, her finger behind her back gesturing for Sirius to come.

"Snuffles? Please why would we use that stupid dog's name as our---good lord!" Pansy cut herself of as Sirius got to Melina's side, a growl rumbling in his throat.

"He's my insurance. Against people like you. Although I could have gotten by without his help." Melina said.

"Yes, yes. Snuffles, of course that's the password. On your way." Pansy and the other girls pressed themselves back against the wall and watch the dog closely as he and Melina continued down the hall. Just for good measure, and for his fun, he gave a loud, deep bark. The girls screamed and took off in the opposite direction.

"You're going get yourself into trouble. Or worst, your going to me in trouble." She said after laughing.

"I agree." She jumped and spun around to see Snape.

"Do you enjoy doing that to me?" She said and Snuffles barked. "No you may not. I can't believe you just asked me that." She shook her head at him.

"Dare I ask what he said?" Snape asked glaring at the dog looked as if he was glaring back. Melina opened her mouth to tell him but she started laughing instead.

"He wanted to know if he could use you as a chew toy." She managed to say.

"I see." Snape said and took his glare off the dog looked up at Melina. "Where are the two of you headed Ms. Potter?" He asked her.

"Down to meet Draco. He's got all my make-up potions work." Melina told him when she stopped giggling.

"Really? Is this your chaperone?" Snape gestured to Snuffles who was now sitting next to Melina.

"He thinks he is, but I'm the one with the wand. I could bind him if I needed to." She told him. Snape smirked as Snuffles growled.

"Uh-huh. Well, regardless of your missed time, I expect you to score highly on my O.W.L test. On your way." With that, Snape turned and walked away and disappeared around the corner. Melina smirked as she turned and continued her walk toward the classroom and went in.

"He's late." She said looking at her timepiece as she sat at the table and Snuffles barked. "Of course this is the right classroom. It's the one we always meet in."

"What? Does he follow you everywhere now?" She smirked as Draco entered the room, potions supplies loaded in his arms.

"Pretty much." She said before he gave he a long, sweet kiss on the lips. "So what'd I miss?" She asked after he pulled back.

"Everything." He said as he spread the stuff out on the table..

"That much huh?" She said and he nodded and they got started on their work.

* * *

"That was fun. What's next?" Melina asked after she had done five different assignments.

"Next? Melina you don't need any more work. You did all of that flawlessly. I'd say we're done." Draco said leaning back in his seat and putting his feet on the table. Snuffles barked twice, nearly causing him to fall over backwards. He would have had Melina not caught his arm. "What did he say and did he do that on purpose?"

"He said it's rude for a gentleman to put their feet up on a table with a lady present." Melina told him, trying not to laugh. "And yes. I think he did do it on purpose."

"Who ever said you were a lady?" Draco teased. Melina glared at him and he jumped to his feet.

"You are so dead." She told taking off after him. Snuffles followed just to keep an eye on them as they flew through the halls. Students jumped out of the way as the three of them ran, warned only by the sound of a bark.

"You'll never catch me Melina. Give up." Draco called over his shoulder. He turned to see how far away from him she was and noticed she, and Snuffles, were gone. He stopped and frowned wondering where she could have gone. He turned back around and jumped. She had somehow managed to get ahead of him and was currently directly in front of him. "How did you do that?" He asked, backing up as she walked toward him.

"That's for me to know and you not to find out." She said, catching him before he could run again. Her lips found his in a deep kiss and they heard Snuffles groan behind Melina. That didn't stop them and they continued to kiss in the middle of the hall.

"Draco, Melina, enough." Melina jump at Remus's voice and turned to see him standing next to Snuffles, whose tail was wagging.

"Oh, you think you're so funny don't you?" Melina asked the dog and he barked. "Yeah, I thought so." She turned to Draco and noticed he was trying so hard to keep a straight face. He failed and broke down laughing. She rolled her eyes and shrugged to her surrogate father as he crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"All three of you to my office now." Remus said. Draco stopped laugh as quickly as he started and sighed as they followed the DADA teacher to his office.

"What am I going to do with you?" Remus asked Melina as they sat.

"Me?" Melina asked innocently.

"No, your twin." As soon as he said this Remus knew it was a mistake because of the look on her face.

"Harry?"

"Melina. You know who and what I mean. And you," He pointed at Snuffles who cocked his head in an innocent way that said 'Who me?' "Yes you. You should know better than to let her snogg in the middle of the halls." Remus closed his eyes and sighed, wishing he would think before he spoke.

"Ok. No snogging in the halls. Got it. Can we go?" Melina said .

"No." Remus said shortly. "What to do, what to do." He said to himself. Melina groaned inwardly. He always did this when he was going to give her some stupid punishment.

"How 'bout we apologize and say we won't ever do it again?" Draco spoke up.

"It is the first time we've done that." Melina added. Remus looked at the two of them with a scrupulous look. Melina and Draco looked at each other and back at Remus.

"We're sorry and we won't ever do that again." They said together. "If that doesn't work I'll say the magic word." Melina added.

"Out." Remus said and the three of them hurried out of the room.

* * *


	11. Another Year, Gone

Ch. 11 - Another Year, Gone

The Hall was buzzing with the excitement of the end of the year. Everyone was eager to hear who had won the house cup this year and the Quiditch cup had already been awarded to Gryffindor. Draco had asked Dumbledore earlier in the week if he could sit with the Gryffindors because he no longer felt comfortable sitting with his own house. So there he was, sitting in between Melina and Ron, wearing his house colors, laughing with them at something Harry had said. Snuffles was lying on the floor under Melina's feet, having stayed in the rest of the school year. Dumbledore cleared his throat and the Great Hall was quiet, all eyes turned to him.

"Another year, gone. So much has happened this year. We have a new 5th year student. And a new 6th year student," He gestured to Adara and Melina. "we learned not to judge all books by their covers," He looked next to her at Draco. "and we found out that in order to survive this world we must be united. You all showed that this year when our school was in danger and I am very proud of you all." He gave them all a smile that said exactly that.

"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering who has won the house cup, and I am now going to give the points." He paused dramatically before continuing. "In forth place with 675 points, Ravenclaw." The hall cheered. If that was forth place, then first had to be pretty high. "In third place with 698 points, Hufflepuff." More cheers. "In second place with 766 points," Another dramatic pause. "Slytherin. And that leaves in first place with 792 points, Gryffindor."

The hall had erupted already when he had said 'Slytherin' because that obviously meant that Gryffindor had won, but they were even louder now that they knew how many points were given. "Wonderful job Gryffindor. Before I let you all eat, I have a very special award to give. For immeasurable courage in the face of impeccable danger, a cool head under pressure, and wit that rivals Ms. Granger's." The students all laughed. " I award Ms. Melina Arien Potter with this." A snowy owl appeared on the table next to him and it flew over to Melina. "Her name is Billow and she is yours." Melina's face lit up as she rubbed under Billow's chin.

"Thank you professor." She said ecstatically.

"You're welcome. Now, let's eat." Dumbledore said. Food appeared on all the plates and Billow flew to Melina's shoulder, nipped affectionly at her ear and flew off to the owlry to eat with the other owls.

"You've got the same kind of owl as Harry." Draco whispered.

"I know. That's because they're the most loyal owls you can find." Melina whispered back. She dished some food onto a separate plate and put it on the floor for Snuffles.

"He's probably getting tired of eating like a dog." Ron whispered to her. "OW!" He jumped, feeling Snuffles nip at his leg. "Stop that." He told the dog. "You've bit me once already." He said. They laughed and continued to eat.

"Draco." Melina said setting her fork down and turning to him after a while. "Have you decided whether or not to stay?" She asked quietly.

"If I do, will you stay with me?" He asked her.

"Of course I will, you know that." She told him. "You have to ask Dumbledore before the feast ends. Go now." She nudged him up and he walked up to the teacher's table.

"Excuse me professor. I apologize for interrupting your meal but I have something rather important to ask you." He said. Dumbledore looked up from his plate and smiled.

"Go ahead Mr. Black." Draco smirked at the use of his new name.

"I'm wondering if. . . I could stay here for the summer. I'll understand if it's to late, I could always follow Melina home." He said quietly. Dumbledore chuckled.

"I anticipated you would ask and already made the proper arrangements." He told the Slytherin who sighed in relief.

"Um. . .did you anticipate I'd ask if Melina would be allow to stay with me?" He asked with a smile.

"I did. But that is something she needs to ask Lupin." Dumbledore nodded over to the DADA teacher.

"Right. Thank you professor." Draco said and he went back to the table.

"What did he say?" Melina whispered as he sat down.

"He said he already knew I was going to ask. He also said he knew I was going to ask if you could stay with me. He said that's something you need to ask Remus." Draco told her and she groaned slightly.

"I knew he was going to say that." She sighed. "Alright I'll be right back." She stood and walked around the teacher's table to the other side and kneeled down next to Remus.

"Can I have a word?" She asked as he turned to look at her.

"Does this have anything to do with Draco coming up and talking to the headmaster?" Remus asked.

"Perhaps." Melina said. "Yes, it has everything to do with it. Draco doesn't feel safe to go home so he asked Dumbledore if he come stay the summer. Of course he said yes, but Draco wants me to stay with him." Remus sighed. He knew she was going to say that. "I can get Snuffles to stay if that'll make you feel any better."

"He is the least responsible person I know." Remus said after a moment. "You, however, are the opposite. Minus that little incident in the hall, you have never done anything to make me question your responsibility." He told her.

"Is that a yes?" Melina asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, it's a yes." He laughed as Melina flung her arms around his neck in appreciation.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said and pulled away and ran back to the table.

"What are you so happy about?" Harry asked as she sat down, grinning.

"Draco's staying here for the summer so I'm going to be staying with him. I hope you don't mind that I'm staying with him and not you." She told him.

"No big deal. Maybe I could ask Dumbledore if I could come back a month early." Harry said with a thoughtful smile. Melina rolled her eyes and leaned downed to look under the table.

"Snuffles?" She said quietly. The dog looked up from his plate at her. "Draco and I are staying here for the summer. You're welcome to stay with us if you like." Snuffles tail wagged and he woofed quietly. "Great." Melina said and she straightened herself back up in her seat. "Snuffles is going to stay." She told Draco who sighed dramatically.

"Great. We won't be able to do anything. Is Lupin staying?" He asked, pretending to sound aggravated.

"No. He has a prior engagement. Don't ask me what it is 'cause I'm not going to tell you." She answered.

"Fine be that way."

* * *

"I told you Draco, I'm not telling. It's none of your business anyway." Melina said as they rode with Harry, Ron and Hermione toward the train station for the three leaving to take the Hogwarts express back to London. Draco chuckled and put an arm over her shoulder.

"I'm just checking to see how well you can keep a secret. Don't take it personally. I do it to everyone." He told her as the carriage came to a bumpy stop and the five of them got off.

"Remus told me about the Dursley's, Harry." Melina said to her brother. "Just keep thinking about going to Ron's, or here, for the last month of the summer. And don't try to curse them. Until after our 17th birthday that is." Harry laughed and gave her a hug

"I think I'll tell them about you, see if they even know if you exist." He said and Melina laughed as the train whistled.

"Don't do anything stupid Harry. Ron, when you see him, don't let him do anything stupid." She said as she gave the redhead a hug.

"Got it." He said as he followed Harry on to the train and Melina gave Hermione a hug.

"Make sure you keep them both in line when you see them." She told her.

"I will, don't worry. See you at the beginning of the school year." With that, Hermione followed the boys onto the train. Melina shrieked slightly as someone else nearly knocked her over.

"Adara, what did I tell you about trying to get me a heart attack?" She said as she hugged the younger girl back.

"Not to do it?" Adara answered before she let go and walked onto the train. Melina rolled her eyes and waved as the train started moving down the track at Harry and Ron who were waving their hands out one of the windows.

"Well," Draco said after the train was nearly out of sight. "I think a nap is in order." He and Melina walked back to the carriage and made their way back to the castle.

"I think we're going to have fun this summer." Melina said as she leaned out of the carriage and watched the school getting closer. "Lot's of fun." She turned to Draco and grinned. "'Cause I've charmed a snake."

* * *

THE END (sort of)  
(I know the last lines kind of corny, but I had to fit the title in some how)  
I have a sequel started (not much done) so let me know if you want it or not. 


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